Former Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin said the Reagan Administration is responsible for the stalemate in the autonomy negotiations between Egypt and Israel because it remained aloof to the progress of the implementation of the Camp David agreement throughout the whole of 1981.
Rabin, who is presently a member of the Knesset, expressed this view in his keynote address at the 16th annual conference of the Israel Histadrut Foundation. The conference here was attended by over 750 delegates from around the country and Canada which celebrated the $70 Million Year of the Foundation, an American charity which focuses on various deferred giving programs for the benefit of the vast network of social, health and educational institutions of Histadrut. The $70 Million Award was presented to Israel Kessar, deputy secretary general of Histadrut, by Rabbi Leon Kronish, spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom of Miami Beach and chairman of the Israel Histadrut Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Rabin, strongly criticized the Reagan Administration for building its Middle East strategy on the very fragile foundation of the feudal regime of Saudi Arabia, which is “rich, but very weak.”
“Is it not ironic to base a Middle East peace policy on a country which is banker for the radical, rejectionist and terrorist forces in the Middle East while depriving the only country which has the courage to make a bold step toward a lasting peace with Israel,” Rabin concluded.
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