Miller: U.S. Playing with Fire by Selling Arms to Arabs While Delaying Arms Requests by Israel

Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said today “the Administration is playing with fire by promoting the sale of huge amounts of arms to the Arab world while delaying consideration of new Israeli requests pending the completion of the ‘reassessment’ of American policy in the Middle East.” He said it is “time to stop” this “dangerous game.” He issued this statement in response to the State Department’s admission yesterday that “certain” military items are not being delivered to Israel.

Rabbi Miller said “American military sales to the Arab world, when added to the vast Arab arms purchases from Britain and France, are rapidly changing the balance of power in the Middle East in the Arabs’ favor, diminishing Israel’s ability to deter attack and thus threatening to plunge the Middle East into another war.”

Rabbi Miller said “equally dangerous, the torrent of arms pouring into the Arab world, compared to the tiny trickle Israel is receiving from the United States–apparently just enough to keep open the pipeline of previously committed supplies–has a political dimension as well. The current U.S. policy of holding up considerations of new Israeli requests for military aid has been in effect for nearly six months. It can only encourage Arab intransigence and strengthen Arab refusal to move toward peace with Israel.”