Israel Vows to Take ‘high Profile’ in Gulf if Interests Are Threatened

Israel is apparently ready to take the Persian Gulf crisis into its own hands if the United States works out a deal with Saddam Hussein that leaves him in power after an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.

Foreign Minister David Levy told the Knesset on Wednesday that Israel would take “the highest possible profile” if it found itself threatened by Iraqi military might after the Persian Gulf crisis was settled.

There would be “no compromising” in those circumstances, Levy said in reply to several agenda motions.

His statement was widely seen as indicating that Israel would be prepared to go to war with Iraq to protect its interests.

That appeared to confirm media reports that Levy had warned U.S. Ambassador William Brown on Monday that Israel would take military action against Iraq if the United States failed to do so.

Deputy Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu played down the reports, which appeared in Ha’aretz and other daily newspapers, but without sources cited.

“I think we are merely restating common goals,” Netanyahu said of Levy’s conversation with the American envoy.

In his statement to Brown, which the Foreign Ministry published, Levy observed pointedly that Israel’s “low profile” posture in the Gulf situation was predicated from the start on Washington’s dual undertaking to roll back the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and ensure that Iraq does not pose a military threat to the region in the future.

Levy stressed Israel’s continuing expectation that the United States would fulfill both of those objectives.

CONCERN ABOUT A U.S. DEAL ON KUWAIT

He implied, however, that if its expectations were eroded, Israel would no longer feel itself committed to the “low profile” approach.

The United States requested such an approach so that it could win the support of Arab countries in its campaign against Iraqi aggression.

Levy’s demarche appeared to have been closely coordinated with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who is to meet with President Bush in Washington next Tuesday.

It reflects a profound fear in government circles here of a weakening of U.S. resolve and the prospect of a “linkage” between the Kuwait issue and the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Israel’s apprehension was heightened by Bush’s announcement last Friday that he would send Secretary of State James Baker to Baghdad to talk with Hussein and would invite Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz to Washington for talks.

The Bush administration insisted its purpose was not to negotiate with the Iraqi leader but to make sure he got the message of last week’s U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force if Iraqi troops are not out of Kuwait by Jan. 15.

But Israeli officials fear a deal over Kuwait that would leave the Iraqi military machine intact.