A bi-partisan assault on the State Department’s concept of a Big Power peace-keeping force in the Middle East was delivered today on the Senate floor. Sen. Henry M. Jackson, Washington Democrat, said he was “appalled” by signs that the U.S. was ready to consider Soviet participation in a force “designed to guarantee the integrity of an inherently insecure border.” Sen. Jacob K. Javits, Republican of New York, declared that Israel “does not want to invoke a guarantee which would call for U.S. or Soviet forces to be activated on its borders.” He said, “Israel does not want to be a theater of confrontation between the forces of the two superpowers in an area likely to be explosive for a long time to come.” He added that it was wrong to assume that the pieces of a fragile peace can be held together by a Big Four peace-keeping force. In this situation, he said, Israel could easily become “a ward or a scapegoat.”
Both senators took issue with Secretary of State William P. Rogers’ position that geographical advantages were not vital to Israel’s security. Jackson claimed that “hope for a lasting peace (in the Middle East) lies in American support for a map of Israel with secure and recognized borders whose defense can be assured by the Israelis themselves.” He said such borders must provide for continued Israeli control over the Sharm el-Sheikh strong point in southern Sinai and a land bridge linking it with Israel. At another point, Jackson proposed “total demilitarization” of the Sinai peninsula “so that no Egyptian armor, aircraft or military personnel would be permitted to cross the Suez Canal.” Javits said there was a serious question whether treaties based on the juridical concepts of the 19th century were sufficiently relevant to the Middle East situation to justify the contention that geography is not important in the modern world. Jackson said.” I believe the Israel government has properly rejected the view that external guarantees can substitute for defensible borders.”
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