Vice President Walter Mondale disclosed yesterday that Israel “will have substantially more than a thousand of our best M- 60 tanks.” Observers said this was the first time the number of tanks Israel is scheduled to receive over the next few years has been revealed.
The Vice President made his disclosure as he and Patrick Lucey, the Vice Presidential running more Independent Presidential candidate John Anderson, addressed more than 500 delegates to the 82nd national convention of the Zionist Organization of America. George Bush, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate is scheduled to speak to the ZOA tonight.
Mondale stressed to the delegates that “the people of Israel cast no votes in our elections, but they – and Zionists everywhere – have an immense stake in the results of Nov. 4.” He noted that the Carter Administration “has provided more military assistance and provided a broader range of highly technical, capable military assistance to Israel” than “any other Administration in American history.”
PLO TERRORISM DENOUNCED
Both candidates made statements attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization, with Mondale declaring: “We oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. We oppose a PLO state and have said so repeatedly.”
And in a strong statement hitting out at the PLO for its terrorism, Mondale said “terrorism is perhaps the most uncivilized acts perhaps in the world. It is a crime against all humanity – and it does not matter whether it is in Paris or Jerusalem, or elsewhere. It does not matter whether it is practiced by the neo-Nazis in France or by the PLO in Israel. That is the message the President issued on the heels of the vicious bombing of the synagogue in Paris. That is the consistent position of our government.”
The two Vice Presidential candidates told the ZOA delegates that they were opposed to putting pressure on Israel in terms of concessions Lucey asserted that “there will be no durable peace unless Israel and the United States stand together in close harmony and coordinate their policies carefully.”
SAYS ISRAEL IS STRATEGIC PARTNER
Lucey added that “We in the U.S. must continue to recognize Israel as the valued strategic partner she is. “He added, “It has become fashionable in some quarters to be little the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. John Anderson and I stand by it, endorse it, we applaud it and hope that it becomes a model for future relationships, not merely in this region, but elsewhere.”
Both candidates commented on the ZOA convention theme “Washington Jerusalem – Capitals of Freedom. “Lucey said that an Anderson Administration “will support the position the proposition that Jerusalem must remain united and undivided. The final status of East Jerusalem must be decided by negotiations.”
Mondale said that since 1967″ Jerusalem has been a united city. We believe, with Israel, that the ancient and holy city of Jerusalem must never again — ever — be divided. We believe with Israel, that there must be free access for all faiths to the holy places. And we believe that the future of Jerusalem can only be decided through negotiations which have the concurrence and the agreement of the State of Israel.”
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