Sen. Walter Mondale, the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate yesterday sharply criticized the Ford Administration’s policy toward Israel and its stand on the Arab boycott against American companies trading with Israel.
Addressing the 79th annual national convention of the Zionist Organization of America at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here, Mondale said that the support of Israel, apart from being a strategical interest of the United States, “is a moral imperative.” The Minnesota Democrat said that America’s military and economic support for Israel must be assured without any conditions of timetables and maps.
Mondale said that he and Democratic Presidential candidate, Jimmy Carter, believe that any peace plan for the Middle East should include unquestioned support for the existence of Israel. He said both of them support providing Israel the arms it needs for its security.
ISRAEL WORKING HARD FOR PEACE
Noting that “there seems to be a notion around that Israel does not want peace.” Mondale declared: “There is no people in the world that is seeking and working for peace more than Israel.” He observed that Israel wants a change of attitude on the part of the Arabs regarding Israel’s existence and therefore, he said, America must be patient when dealing with the Middle East because this process of changing Arab attitudes is a long one.
In criticizing the policy of the Ford Administration, Mondale recalled “the unfair scolding of Israel” after the failure to reach the disengagement agreement with Egypt in March 1975. He also pointed to the Administration’s opposition to aid for Israel for the transitional quarter. Mondale also noted the supplies of “unlimited” arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries by the Administration.
He told the cheering audience that one of the first issues that Carter raised with him in a private conversation was Carter’s “undeviating commitment to the security of Israel” and his concern for the fate of Soviet Jewry. He said that he and Carter criticized the massive U.S. arms sale around the globe, but both of them support arms deliveries for the security of Israel.
SUPPORT FOR ANTI-BOYCOTT AMENDMENTS
Describing the Arab boycott as a “pernicious, immoral, outrageous tactic,” Mondale accused the President of being against legislation aimed at stopping boycott practices. He said that the Democrats in Congress supported the Ribicoff and Stevenson amendments on the Arab boycott while the Administration rejected them.
“Let’s stop raising doubts of American support for Israel,” Mondale declared. He called for removing Israel as a partisan issue in the election campaign. He said American support of Israel is a bipartisan commitment. He said by supporting Israel, the United States supports the cause of “decency, justice and democracy.”
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