Dr. Henry Kissinger, Professor of Government at Harvard University and advisor to President Kennedy on nuclear weapons strategy, said here today that “Israel and the United States have a parallel interest in the Middle East. Both are interested in stability and in the prevention of outbreaks of hostility.”
Declaring he was expressing his “private views” as “a professor,” Dr. Kissinger made his comments at a press conference before he departed for India after a six-day visit to Israel. Despite the unofficial nature of his visit, the nuclear weapons specialist was a guest of the Israel Foreign Ministry and visited Israel defense installations. He also had talks with Deputy Defense Minister Shimon Peres.
He said there was no secret about his opinion that the flow of new Soviet arms to the Middle East was “a provocation to stability and endangers peace here.” He emphasized that he was totally opposed to arming Middle East nations with nuclear weapons which he said were inappropriate to such small countries.
“I do not think that nuclear weapons is the answer to Israel’s problems today, “he stated. “If, however, the Arabs would be in possession of such arms I would reverse my opinion.”
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