— Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, warned today that unless the U.S. changes its Middle East policy and shifts away from its support of Israel, “things will get out of hand and the area will explode. American and Western interests will suffer untold losses as a result.”
In a sharply worded speech to a Foreign Policy Association luncheon at the Plaza Hotel here, the Saudi minister declared:
“To the Saudis, there are only two threats in this world — international Communism and Israel. The first helps to reinforce our friendship with America while the second is a threat to that friendship. It is difficult to conceive of a compromise in a situation like this. The second (threat) is far more tangible and more evident than the first one and an actual danger is obviously worse than a potential danger.”
SAYS U.S. SUPPORT OF ISRAEL AIDS USSR
Contending that the Arab-Israeli problem is the obstacle to a U.S.-Saudi Arabian “perfect model” relationship, Yamani declared: “Israel is the opening through which the Russians slip into the Arab world. That is the Communists’ entry visas to our countries. And the more support the U.S. gives
to Israel, the better is the climate for the Russians in the region. This is fully borne out by the patern of Arab-Russian relations during the last three decodes.”
He added, “Given this, we in Saudi Arabia find it very strange to hear that the Communist threat is a justification for the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel.”
Claiming that Russia is going to benefit from present Israeli policies, he continued: “When the U.S., due to internal political pressure, refrains from performing its duty in bringing peace to the area, it thereby serves the Russians’ interests to the detriment of its own interests and perhaps those of Israel itself.”
Yamani contended that the Saudis cannot explain why America is turning “a blind eye to Israel’s behavior in Jerusalem, Islam’s holiest point after Mecca and Medina.” He said Jerusalem and Palestine “after all” are not only an Arab cause, “they are primarily an Islamic cause.”
Noting that the Saudis are aware of the extent of the power of the “Zionist” lobby and the Jewish community and their influence on American public opinion, Congress and the Administration, he said that it is “strange” that the Jewish community should continue its blind support of Israel at a time that the rare opportunity for peace comes by and the Arabs expressed a real willingness to live with Israel “in a just and lasting peace that would insure for all the parties concerned, independence and security.”
URGES ‘ENERGETIC CONTRIBUTION’ BY U.S.
Yamani said there is a unanimous view in Saudi Arabia that peace in the Middle East will not be achieved without “America’s energetic contribution” and without the U.S. changing its role “into a much more positive one. ” He did not elaborate what changes U.S. policy should under-go but contended that the Reagan Administration does not place as much emphasis on the Arab-Israeli issue as the Arabs would like to see.
Yamani did not touch in his speech on the controversy surrounding the Administration’s proposed multi-billion dollar weapons sale to his country, including five AWACS surveiliance aircraft which is encountering mounting opposition in Congress. But the AWACS issue was raised during the question period that followed the speech.
CONFIDENT OF AWACS SALE TO SAUDIS
Yamani said that “unfortunately” the AWACS have become “a hot issue” but he was confident that they will be sold to Saudi Arabia with Congress’ approval. “This is the firm position of the Administration,” he said, stressing that Congress will realize that it is in the U.S. interest to sell the AWACS to Saudi Arabia so that it can protect itself from any Communist attempt to seize its oilfields.
He described the AWACS as a “defensive instrument” and charged that the Israelis oppose the sale because they don’t want “anybody to monitor them.” He accused Israel of raising a storm over the issue in order to “milk more” from the U.S. Yamani stated under questioning that the real test of U.S. friendship is to see to it that the Arab-Israeli conflict is solved. He said the most acute aspect of that conflict “is the plight of the Palestinian people who have been denied the basic right of self-determination.”
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