Congress was today asked how America is acting to deter Arab aggression against Israel “when we don’t even recognize that country to the extent of having our ambassador or the U.S. military attache attend the Independence Day parade in her capital city.” Rep. Seymour Halpern, New York Republican, speaking on the floor of the House, said he wanted the Administration to explain the boycotting of the parade.
Rep. Halpern said the excuse given was that the State Department “does not recognize the legality, status, or permanence of Jerusalem as the national capital of Israel.” He warned that “this can only serve notice to the Arabs that the United States sees Israel as somehow temporary.” He said Israel’s 19th Anniversary was the time to demonstrate the “permanence” we accord to Israel and “not the time to join in a seeming detente with Russia to shun the Israeli Independence Day parade in the national capital of that nation.”
“What we are doing in boycotting the parade undermines all our efforts to keep peace in that troubled part of the world. By appeasing the Arabs in this way, we indicate that we might stand by idle in the face of further Arab pressures against Israel. In effect, our action tells the Russians that they can further exploit Arab anti-Israel passions to penetrate the region,” the Congressman said.
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