Percy’s Statement to the JTA

In a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today, Sen. Charles Percy (R.III,) said, “I have not changed my long held support for the legitimate aspirations of the brave people of Israel,” and “I continue to support Israel’s desire for peace and security.”

He said that on his recent tour of the Middle East which covered 12 countries including Israel, he had “in face-to-face meetings with the rulers of a number of Arab countries, accompanied by our American Ambassador,..reiterated my long held and deeply felt position that Israel as a sovereign nation must be fully recognized by the Arab states; the borders and territorial integrity of the State of Israel must be guaranteed to the maximum possible extent; and the ability of the people of Israel to live in peace and security must be assured.”

In his statement to the JTA, Percy said that he did recommend “changes in Israel’s policy” but observed that “short-hand reporting of the press does not put everything in perspective or even insure accuracy.” He said that in a statement he made to the Egyptian press in Cairo, which was transmitted to all Arab capitals by the U.S. Information Agency, he had stressed that “In any peace the sovereignty of the State of Israel and its people must be assured.”

Percy added to the JTA, “The changed circumstances in the Middle East require changes in Israel’s policy because the Arab states are no longer weak.” He said “As I told my friend, Prime Minister Rabin just a week ago. Israel must start a process which will enable the more moderate Arabs to resist the pressures of the military and radical elements in their countries for going to war again.”

He said that “In exchange for Israeli withdrawal from most of the occupied lands and negotiations with the Palestinians, Israel should require formal diplomatic recognition by the Arab states, free and unhampered use of the Suez Canal when it is opened, the beginning of economic and cultural contacts with the Arab nations” and “also appropriate American diplomatic, economic and political support for Israel during the difficult time of negotiation, during the rearrangement, and into the future.”

Percy concluded: “At great risk of being misunderstood by a community I respect and which I believe has respected me, I have made these suggestions with Israel’s survival and well-being uppermost in my mind, along with my responsibility to the United States’ national interest. As I have said many times, my support for Israel’s legitimate aspirations for peace and security is irrevocable. I mean that with all my heart.”