Two Jewish community relations specialists expressed optimism about the new Carter Administration’s promises to maintain Israel’s secure survival, to favor direct Arab-Israel negotiations, to oppose any imposed solution, to refrain from using aid to Israel in a ‘carrot and stick’ manner, to resist Arab blackmail and to support legislation to end the Arab boycott, in talks to the Plenary Session of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC) here this week.
The specialists. Dr. George Gruen, director of the foreign affairs department of the American Jewish Committee, and Daniel Mann, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, advised the delegates representing nine national agencies and 101 community groups comprising the NJCRAC to be “vigilant” in making sure those promises are kept.
SUGGESTS U.S. POLICIES TOWARD ISRAEL
Gruen stressed that an indicator of Carter’s support for Israel will be the extent to which he restores funds cut by the Ford Administration. He listed the principles that should guide American policies toward Israel:
“The U.S. must remain firm in support of the principle underlying UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 that further withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territory is inextricably linked to the ending of Arab belligerency and the establishment of secure and mutually recognized borders.
“While the United States may initially facilitate the negotiating process, it cannot serve as a surrogate for the fundamental commitments which the parties must make to one another.
“Instead of rushing to go to Geneva as the Arabs urge… the emphasis should be on determining whether or not the Arabs are ready for a genuine peace of reconciliation with Israel.” Jewish groups have to be alert to the details and nuances of the Arab moderation tactic,” especially in the United Nations, so that they can counter Arab propaganda. Gruen stressed.
Mann said: “Something should be said about the attitude of American Jews to the emerging PLO presence in the United States. If the sovereignty of Israel means anything in international relations, it surely includes Israel’s right to limit the process of negotiations to other sovereign nations who are parties to the conflict without diversionary diplomacy by the ambassadors of the organized American Jewish community.”
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