President Ford and Premier Yitzhak Rabin parted Friday after four days of friendly and detailed discussions with reassurances to Israel by Ford of continued American supplies of arms for an unspecified term but without agreement on either long-term deliveries of weapons or on the next step in the U.S. initiated drive for a Middle East settlement.
In a White House statement Friday after their third meeting. Ford made known that he had “reaffirmed” continuing U.S. support of the “ongoing supply relationship” in weapons and that the two leaders had “made progress in moving toward an understanding of how these negotiations might proceed.” Shortly after that statement, Rabin in a news conference at Blair House declared that he and the President had reached “understanding for the need to search for peace and the ongoing military relationship with concrete results.”
The Premier stressed that the search for peace and the strengthening of Israel are “parallel” matters with no “linkage” between them. Asked to confirm that his phrase “concrete results” meant that Israel was “satisfied,” Rabin replied, “the words I used speak for themselves.” Questioned whether he had received specific responses to the reported Israeli wish for $7.5 billion in arms aid prorated over five years, Rabin replied that he had not asked for “the sum you mention” but that he had requested the United States “to continue its policy of deliveries and continue the balance of power to enable Israel to negotiate from strength–both for immediate and long-term.”
Rabin remarked “Israel has asked the United States to allow us to get the arms to allow Israel to defend itself by itself.” Later, Israeli sources explained that the long-term supply arrangement contained such imponderables as political and economic circumstances in the ensuing “ten years” and these could not be pinned down specifically.
NOT USEFUL TO GO INTO DETAILS
Regarding negotiations for a settlement, the White House noted that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger will continue his discussions with Arab leaders who will be in New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly which Ford and Kissinger will address this week.
When asked if he had indicated to the U.S. that he preferred to negotiate next with Egypt, Rabin replied that it “would not be useful at this stage to go into detail on what can be done or not be done.” Pressed on whether he preferred negotiations next with Egypt or Jordan, Rabin again sidestepped a specific reply saying, “this matter would better be left for further exploration and we will decide about it later on.”
He was then asked whether he would support simultaneous negotiations with Jordan and Egypt. The Premier replied that he did not believe it is “advisable” to pursue anything but bilateral negotiations because attempts at multilateral negotiations have always failed in the Middle East. In his talks with Kissinger, Rabin said, Soviet and Syrian Jewry were discussed but he would not detail the talks. He noted that it was “a moral responsibility” for a Jewish State to help Jewish communities especially when their people are discriminated against as Jews.
Despite the lack of announced agreements, Ford and Rabin appeared confident of each other’s friendship and of continuing excellent U.S. Israeli relations. Ford, the White House said, “reaffirmed the long standing American friendship for Israel and also reaffirmed the continuing U.S. support for the security and well being of that country.” He also welcomed the increasing U.S. Israeli commercial contacts.
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