Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R. N. Y.) sharply criticized the Defense Department for “ill-timed and ill-advised” suggestions calling for the sale of F-16 jet fighters and mobile Hawk missiles to Jordan. He described Jordan as “a puppet government with no popular support” and said “it is no place for a U.S. military commitment that could erode peace efforts in the Middle East.”
D’Amato addressed more than 1,200 people at the 74th annual awards dinner of Bnai Zion Sunday night where Charlotte Jacobson, chairman of the World Zionist Organization-American Section and president of the Jewish National Fund, received the 1982 Dr. Harris Levine Memorial Award “for outstanding public service. “Mrs. Jacobson, currently in Israel, had the award accepted for her by Beatrice Feldman, treasurer of Hadassah.
D’Amato spoke as a last-minute substitute for Sen. Bob Packwood (R. Ore.), who had been scheduled to receive Bnai Zion’s 1982 America-Israel Friendship Award, but could not attend because of illness. D’Amato accepted the gold medal on behalf of his colleague.
The New York Republican solon declared there exists “a very carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign” on the part of the U.S. military establishment and “a host of profit motivated industries” aimed at swinging American policy away from Israel and “peddling arms” to Arab states. He declared:
“We don’t need a super arms salesman as Secretary of Defense. Our commitment to the security of Israel and the maintenance of our close relationship with Israel is essential to preserving the interests of the United States. Israel is our only reliable ally in the Middle East.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
