Gov. Spiro T. Agnew, of Maryland, the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, declared today that United States military aid to Israel “is imperative to deter any threat of war” and to “preserve the equilibrium of peace.” Mr. Agnew made his statement, his first on the Middle East, in a letter to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee here. He asserted that “the security of America and the security of Israel’s rights and freedoms are one and inseparable; that in supporting the cause of Israel in its search for freedom and the right to live in peace, Americans are supporting the cause of the United States in its involvement with all the world’s nations.”
Gov. Agnew criticized the Johnson Administration for alleged “lack of understanding and concern” which, he said, “has characterized our country’s Middle East policies for at least the past 18 months. Instead of providing Israel with the military equipment she needs to counter the massive influx of modern armaments supplied by the USSR, our State Department clings to the hope that the Russians will join the Western powers in limiting arms’.’ Gov. Agnew said America should “bring its full influence to bear upon the Soviet Union to end its present policy of propelling the Middle East toward a fatal confrontation.”
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.
