Senators Robert F. Kennedy, of New York, and Eugene J. McCarthy, of Minnesota, both candidates for the Democratic Presidential nomination, agreed in a nationwide telecast Saturday night that the United States must honor its commitments to Israel even though it should scale down many of its commitments elsewhere in the world. Kennedy reiterated his Portland. Ore. proposal of last week to send 50 Phantom jets to Israel. McCarthy said that if 50 jets were necessary to help Israel “rebuild the strength they lost in the most recent war…I am for 50 jets.” The two Presidential aspirants made their remarks in reply to questions on the “Issues and Answers” program which originated in San Francisco where they are campaigning for Tuesday’s California primary elections. It was their first face-to-face confrontation since they announced their intentions to seek their party’s nomination.
Kennedy was the first to refer to Israel. He said that the U.S. cannot continue to be a global policeman and intervene in internal disputes all over the world. But, he said, “I do think we have some commitments around the globe. I think we have a commitment to Israel for instance that has to be kept.”
McCarthy said that he thought America had “clear moral and legal responsibilities in the Middle East and Israel.” He acknowledged that he believed the U.S. should work toward a moratorium on arms shipments to the Middle East but he stressed that “we had to maintain the military strength of Israel against the Arab nations, and I’ve said that we had at least to help them rebuild the strength that they lost in the recent war. If that means 50 jets, well I’m for 50 jets.’ The Minnesota senator said the U.S. obligations to Israel stemmed from the fact that “we were one of the nations that wouldn’t open our doors to Jewish expellees and refugees after the war and suggested that the British take care of it in Palestine and then moved on from there to support in the UN the establishment of the State of Israel and we’ve underscored that commitment time and time again since ’45 or ’47.”
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