Klutznick Warns That Growing Isolationism in the U.S. Could Be Catastrophic to Israel

Philip M. Klutznick of Chicago, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, warned here today that growing isolationism in the U.S. “could be harmful if not catastrophic” for Israel and the Middle East. Addressing 500 delegates from 65 countries attending the Sixth Plenary Session of the World Jewish Congress, Klutznick observed that “many Americans are weary of conflict and the expenditure of resources for either political, economic or military foreign aid.”

“There is a danger of turning inward to which President Ford alluded in his State of the Union message, which we Americans must fight with might and main,” he said. “Isolationism is growing and international morality has its limitations where personal comfort is involved. We may be in for a long and difficult struggle in my country and its impact on the Middle East and Israel could be harmful if not catastrophic.”

Klutznick, a former president of B’nai B’rith and a member of the WJC’s Governing Council, opened a general debate on the theme of “World Jewry in a Changing World.” His address dealt with the area of “the external front.” According to Klutznick, the huge purchases of military hardware by the Arab countries may be more dangerous than the build-up of petro-dollars in the oil-producing countries. The Arabs’ expenditures for jet fighters, tanks and other offensive weapons point to a “search for empire” that is far more serious than the dollars in Arab hands resulting from the quadrupling of oil prices, he said.

DIASPORA-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP

Referring to the Middle East situation, Klutznick observed: “It is wrong to think of peace in terms of merely fixing frontiers. Peace means exchanging goods and ideas and people through trade and cultural contacts and tourism. It means diplomatic recognition as well as an end to border disputes. For such a peace, Israel needs the support of every nation.”

In that connection, Klutznick said, “I can think of no more important task for the WJC than to find the organizational technique and generate the formula for genuine understanding between us,” meaning Israel and diaspora Jewry. “The miracle that the times require depends on two events,” he said. “First, the recognition by Israel that Jews outside Israel have a genuine partnership role to play in the upbuilding of the Jewish State; and second, that the diaspora sees itself not only as giver or source of aid but as a real participant, within the accepted norms of international behavior, in Israel’s political and social future.”