The White House said that President Ford considers the matter of Gen. George S. Brown’s derogatory comments about Israel and other countries to be “closed” in view of Brown’s statement at a press conference with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon yesterday.
However, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations declared in a statement released after a special meeting in New York this morning that “The Jewish community does not consider the matter of Gen. Brown to be closed” and demanded that the President censure Brown and repudiate the views he expressed.
Speaking in Tampa, Fla. last night, Democratic Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter challenged President Ford to “show some leadership” by formally reprimanding the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for his statement that Israel is a military “burden” to the U.S.
The statement was contained in an interview Brown gave to Israeli writer and cartoonist Raanan Lurie which will be published shortly by King Features Syndicate. The interview was conducted last April.
Brown acknowledged yesterday the remarks attributed to him but sought to put them in proper context and emphasized that he was “wholeheartedly” committed to safeguarding the security and survival of Israel and supported U.S. policies aimed at that objective. Rumsfeld said yesterday that he had not reprimanded Brown but did not endorse the general’s “inelegant phraseology.”
FORD DISAGREES WITH CHOICE OF WORDS
The statement issued by White House press secretary Ron Nessen late yesterday said: “The President has reviewed the material made public today by the Defense Department concerning Gen. Brown’s interview. The President has also discussed the matter with Secretary Rumsfeld. The President made it clear to Secretary Rumsfeld that he does not agree with the general’s poor choice of words in portions of the interview. Based on Gen Brown’s statement issued today and Secretary Rumsfeld’s news conference, the President considers the matter closed.”
The Presidents Conference statement, issued by its chairman, Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, said: “We strongly believe that his (Brown’s) reckless and irresponsible statements represent a challenge to the fundamental precept of American foreign policy toward its allies and to the bipartisan commitment of the American people in support of the security and survival of the State of Israel.
“Gen. Brown’s statement also represents a dangerous intrusion of the military into the domain of public policy which our form of government clearly assigns to civilian authority. We call on the President publicly to censure Gen. Brown and to repudiate the views he had expressed lest there be any doubt that the dangerous course of action he recommends has any sanction whatsoever within the current administration.”
Carter called Brown’s interview statements “a great disservice to our country and to the world…(they) insinuate that Israel is an unwarranted burden to our country when (it) is really the strength of democracy in the Middle East.”
Carter’s Vice-Presidential running mate, Sen. Walter Mondale (D.Minn.), recalled Brown’s statement at Duke University in 1974 in which he alleged that Jews control the American media and banks. Mondale said last night that Brown “has made many comments about Jewish-Americans that I think make him unfit for (his) office.”
Brown said at the press conference yesterday that U.S. assistance to Israel might deplete its own military stocks. He added, however, “That does not mean that I disagree with U.S. policy…. I did not and I do not. Israel shares with the U.S. the basic democratic values long cherished in our country. The defense of those values is crucial to the survival of a way of life on this planet which is compatible to our ideals. Because of these overriding considerations, U.S. policy toward Israel has been clear. We are fully committed to the security and survival of the State of Israel. I believe in that policy wholeheartedly.”
BROWN ASSAILED BY JEWISH LEADERS
Brown was bitterly attacked this morning at the opening session of the American Zionist Federation’s fourth biennial convention at Grossingers, N.Y. Mrs. Faye Schenk, AZF president, said “We protest the continuing biased comments” by Brown. She said his claim that Israel was a military “burden” on the U.S. “diminishes the status of Israel as an ally of the United States and gives license to the enemies of Israel to unleash their venom against the Jewish State, that bastion of democracy in the Middle East that Gen. Brown considers a burden.”
Schenk also criticized Rumsfeld’s characterization of Brown’s words as “inelegant.” “We describe it as vicious and insultingly derogatory of the great and historic relationships between Israel and the United States.” she said.
Bertram Gold, executive vice-president of the American Jewish Committee, said today: “Once again General Brown has demonstrated his remarkable lack of judgement of some of the most important issues facing our country. While no one would deny him the right to speak as he sees fit on various aspects of our foreign policy, he should be doing so as a civilian and not in the role of his country’s first soldier.”
Arthur J. Levine, president of the United Synagogue of America, the association of Conservative congregations, telegraphed Ford urging Brown’s resignation. Levine demanded a “public reprimand of Gen. Brown’s statements that are contrary to the best interests of the United States.” Dr. Robert Shor, national commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States, also called on Ford to express “lack of confidence” in Brown. In a telegram to the President, Shor said Brown’s remarks cast “little credit on the United States” and “run counter to this country’s best interests.”
Walter S. Wurzburger, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, expressed dismay “that the perceptions of the individual charged with the implementation of the national defense policy varies so radically from those of the elected Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States.” He called on Ford “to make sure that there will be no confusion regarding the basic American policy of civilian control over the military.”
BUCKLEY, MOYNIHAN RAP BROWN
Angry reactions to Brown’s interview remarks also continued to pour in from many other quarters today, including the two New York Senatorial candidates, Republican James Buckley and Democrat Daniel P. Moynihan. Moynihan, addressing the 31st annual Weizmann Institute dinner in New York, said, “Those of us concerned about Israel have reason to be appalled though not surprised by the remarks about American strategic interest” attributed to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Buckley, in a statement issued by his campaign office in New York, said Brown’s contention that Israel was a military “burden” on the U.S. “is not only demonstrably false but is precisely opposite the case.” He said that the general’s usefulness to the army and “to our national defense needs has been gravely damaged by his persistent attacks on Israel and on Americans rightfully concerned for Israel’s survival.” He called for Brown to resign.
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