Purposely keeping a low profile as the Persian Gulf crisis unfolds, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir nevertheless praised the United States on Wednesday for its firm action and determination in face of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
In a conversation with Richard Schifter, U.S. assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs, Shamir asked that his sentiments be conveyed to President Bush.
The prime minister’s remarks, as relayed later by his aides, contained no feeling of being slighted over Israel’s being left out of American diplomatic and military moves, which reportedly include a multinational force to defend Gulf states against Iraq.
According to informed sources, Shamir and his advisers well understand that Israel must not be perceived to be involved in American preparations for a possible military confrontation with an Arab country.
Shamir said in an interview published Wednesday that Israel does not fear becoming a target of Iraqi aggression, as it can very well defend itself.
“Although we don’t want to intervene in the Iraq-Kuwait conflict, we consider the situation to be very serious, because it is practically certain that Saddam Hussein will not stop at Kuwait,” the prime minister was quoted as saying in the weekly Paris Match.
However, Shamir said, the difference between Israel and Kuwait, “and it is a big one, is that the Jewish state is not Kuwait and Iraq better not forget it.”
Meanwhile, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Simcha Dinitz, advised Israel on Wednesday “to stay strong, stay cool and watch from the sidelines.”
Dinitz, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives, said inaction on Israel’s part would help the United States enlist Arab support and Arab opinion behind its military build-up against Iraq.
“Israel is the strongest deterrent power in the region. But it has its own red lines. The red lines of other parties are not necessarily Israel’s red lines,” Dinitz said.
If the United States appears to be relying on its other allies and ignoring Israel in the latest Mideast crisis, that is all to the good, Dinitz said.
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