A Washington legislator said here last night that in order for Israel to exist, it is “vital that the assistance of the U.S. be increased for the next fiscal year.” Sen. Arlen Specter (R. Pa.), addressing some 3,000 delegates attending the 7lst annual national convention of Hadassah, which is also marking its 73rd anniversary, stated that the U.S. plans to raise its aid to Israel from last year’s $2.6 billion to $4.5 billion.
“As long as we possess a good set of lungs, sturdy legs, and the capacity to fight,” the U.S. will make sure that Israel is secure, Specter said. At the same time, he stated, it is “vital the U.S. not sell arms to Arab nations.”
Specter, a member of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, said that Israel’s allies in Congress will attempt to block further sales of U.S. arms to Israel’s Arab neighbors, and added that Arab nations hostile to Israel must accept the ties between that nation and the U.S. as a prerequisite to establishing better relations with the United States.
“Peace will never be achieved at the expense of Israel,” Specter said, and he added that “in the pursuit of peace the United States and Israel are inextricably bound.” The Senator declared that there is “no difference between supporting U.S. interests and Israeli interests,” noting that the “sister nation of Israel is dedicated to democracy and the same values as the U.S.”
ISRAEL WON’T ACCEPT TERMS DICTATED BY OTHERS
Addressing the same session, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Meir Rosenne, affirmed that “no Israeli government will accept” the Palestine Liberation Organization as part of a Middle East negotiating team and emphasized that Israel would not be influenced by its allies in reaching an agreement with its Arab neighbors.
“No government of Israel will ever accept terms dictated by another,” Rosenne told the delegates at the Convention, “because a dictated peace is the beginning of war.”
The Ambassador said Israel was “reassured” by the U.S. government’s statements that it will not conduct formal talks with the PLO or representatives designated by the PLO.
Rosenne said that American Jews, in their hope for Mideast peace, should keep faith, determination and love for Israel; keep ties with Israel and world Jewry; and maintain solidarity with the Jewish people. Israel will remain the nicest monument to world Jewry and will enable us to transfer this wonderful legacy from past generations to future ones,” he said.
The Ambassador stated that “In this world where Israel is condemned by the United Nations, and accused of all the evils of the world” there is something to be proud of: We (Israel) are still there in spite of everything…”
Commenting on the recently concluded UN’s End of the Decade Women’s Conference in Nairobi, Kenya Rosenne hailed the deletion of the infamous Zionism equals racism statement in the final document. He said the deletion was a success that merits recognition.
This year’s theme of the Hadassah convention, “I Lift My Lamp” — from the Emma Lazarus poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty — hailed Hadassah as a symbol of freedom.
The convention, which ends Wednesday, is designed, according to national convention chairperson Blanche Shukow, “to review Hadassah’s history … assess its present … and appraise its future …” Ruth Popkin, Hadassah’s national president, read a message from President Chaim Herzog of Israel, urging that Hadassah members “recall the close links of understanding you have forged with Israel.”
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