Sen. Mcintyre Warns Lack of U.S. Energy Independence Could Be Detrimental for Israel

Sen. Thomas Mclntyre, (D. N.H.) a member of the Armed Services committee, said here last night that unless the United States moves with even greater speed and determination to achieve a measure of energy independence which will insure foreign policy independence, the United States’ energy vulnerability could impact upon Middle East policy to the detriment of the State of Israel.

Sen. Mclntyre spoke at the keynote session of the 68th annual convention of Bnai Zion, the American Zionist fraternal order. he said that “To date I am pleased to say there has been no evidence of any weakening of our commitment to Israel among our nation’s leaders.” Moreover, he stressed his opinion that President Carter remained “unswerving in insistence upon preservation of Israel’s national security and right to a full and total peace.”

Acknowledging that Carter “has a delicate line to walk,” to forestall another outbreak of war in the Middle East or imposition of another oil embargo that would cut off the lifeline to the West, he said “these must be achieved by making it unmistakenly clear that Israel’s right to exist and be secure within defensible boundaries remains the moral imperative of our Middle East policy.”

Referring to election results in Israel, McIntyre said that while they introduced a note of uncertainty, “perhaps the new leadership will have more freedom to negotiate simply because their credentials, public image and constituency are so nationalistic they will be impervious to charges of weakness or expediency.”

Rabbi William Berkowitz, of Congregation Bnai Jeshurun in New York was re-elected to a second one-year term as president of Bnai Zion. Paul Safro of Lawrence, N.Y., was re-elected chairman of the order’s National Administrative Committee; Herman Z. Quittman was re-elected executive vice president and Mel Parness, of Monsey, N.Y., was re-elected national secretary.