Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig praised Israel’s democratic form of government and declared that the United States should not interfere in the internal affairs of the country.
Referring to the Israeli inquiry commission report that led to the resignation of Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, Haig told a meeting here of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith that “We have learned a lesson — Israel is indeed a democracy. ” He added:
“That means American and even members of the American diaspora (the U.S. Jewish community) have no right to comment on the internal affair of the State of Israel.”
The former Administration official also told a dinner opening the ADL’s national executive committee at The Breakers Hotel last Thursday night that the United States “must insist on the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon — not just Israeli forces.”
Honored at the dinner was New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, who received the ADL’s Haym Salomon Award for his contributions to “his state and nation and his sense of responsibility for the rights and privileges of his fellow men.”
In his comments on the current situation, Haig said that what happens in Israel “must be a reflection of the choice of the people of Israel in the exercise of their franchise.” “Why is this so ?” he went on. Because, he declared, in the process of criticizing from abroad, “we deprive the opposition in Israel of its platform.”
Calling for a “spirit of partnership and cooperation” with Israel, the former Secretary of State said that ‘some say our obligation to Israel is purely moral.” But, he went on, Israel represents “geopolitical and strategic values to the United States–a country with a stable regime, militarily capable and of crucial importance to the United States in the region. “
The dinner meeting marked the beginning of ADL’s observance of the League’s 70th anniversary during 1983.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
