Israeli officials appeared pleased today by the warm messages from President Ford and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to Premier Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Yigal Allon. The cordial treatment of Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz by the newly inaugurated President was also noted with satisfaction herre. Dinitz was one of the few envoys in Washington summoned into a private audience with the President shortly after the swearing-in ceremony Friday.
In his message to Rabin, Ford said one of his first acts would be “to re-affirm to Israel, as to all friendly states, the staunch U.S. adherence to its international policy, a policy based on bi-partisan support.” Kissinger’s message to Allon was not released. It was under-stood, however, that the Secretary stressed that U.S. friendship toward Israel was “deep-rooted and not dependent on this or that Administration.”
Rabin sent “warm congratulations” to Ford “on behalf of the President of Israel, the government and the people…on assuming his eminent task.” Rabin also voiced satisfaction with Ford’s assurances of the continuity of American policies of aid to Israel and efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.
PLEDGES TO CONTINUE U.S. COMMITMENTS
U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Keating delivered Ford’s message to Rabin and later drove to
The statement added that Ford’s message “also mentions that the U.S. would persevere in the peace efforts in the Middle East in which it has taken such an active part in recent months.” Ford ended “by saying that he is looking forward with interest to Mr. Rabin’s visit during the summer,” the statement said.
The dramatic change of leadership in Washington came as no surprise to Israelis. But there were expressions of sorrow over the ending of the Nixon Presidency. Nixon is regarded here as a genuine friend of Israel, particularly since last October’s war when the swift American airlift of weapons and supplies helped turn the tide against the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack. A certain amount of apprehension was only natural considering that there is a new and untested hand at the helm of the American foreign policy.
SEEKS TO ALLAY FEARS
Defense Minister Shimon Peres sought to allay these fears. Replying to questions at a meeting in Tel Aviv Thursday night–before Nixon made his resignation announcement–Peres said that U.S. support for Israel was so deeply rooted that no change of Administration would affect it.
He spoke at the opening of a symposium of “Stratis,” the Israeli Institute for Strategic Studies and Policy Analysis. Peres said that while the kind of friendship that exists between Washington and Jerusalem does not exclude differences of views from time to time, the U.S. appreciates that of all of its partners on the world scene, “Israel has not been the most expensive nor the worst friend.”
While Israeli officials expect no negative changes in Middle East policy under the Ford Administration there was a feeling here today that U.S. efforts for a solution to the Mideast conflict possibly will slow down while the new Administration is organizing itself. Reaction from the Arab states was somewhat different. Radio Cairo was quoted as saying that the Arabs would have to make a special effort to convince the new Administration to continue the “balanced” policy adopted by Nixon.
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