Gen. Aaron Yariv, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence, warned here last night that “during the 1980s, general instability will continue to characterize the Middle East.” He proposed that a Western alliance should be formed to forge “an informal and flexible strategic network in the Middle East” with the U.S. as its “backbone.”
Yariv, who is presently the director of the Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, spoke at the opening of a two-day conference sponsored jointly by the Georgetown University Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Tel Aviv University Center. The participants are specialists in international matters from both Tel Aviv and Georgetown whose areas of expertise include world power, terrorism, energy and the modernization of Saudi Arabia.
Yariv said that “Progress toward a more comprehensive Arab-Israeli settlement, including a solution to the Palestinian question, is unlikely to remove the basic elements of instability from the Middle East. Indeed, Western interests in the area, particularly access to Persian Gulf oil, will be increasingly threatened by regional dynamics and Soviet ambitions.”
During the 1980s, “general instability will continue to characterize the Middle East,” Yariv added. “Thus the West must come to realize that the problem is not how one can achieve stability, utilizing conflict, but how to safeguard Western interests in spite of continued instability.”
The program was arranged by the Georgetown University Center a year ago. The Center maintains a regional office in Tel Aviv for its Egypt and Israel program, directed by Dr. Joyce Stan, a former associate special assistant to President Carter.
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.
