Senators and Congressmen Assail Administration for Withholding Jets from Israel

Senators and congressmen from both political parties expressed criticism today of the Nixon administration for withholding the sale of jets at this time from Israel. Anti-administration feelings were heightened by the fact that the administration’s policy of “abeyance,” announced yesterday by Secretary of State William P. Rogers, came at a time when the Soviet Union has been caught red-handed in sending SAM-3’s and additional personnel to Egypt. Senator Stuart Symington, Democrat of Missouri, denounced the Nixon administration for refusing to sell 125 Jets to Israel. Speaking on the Senate floor, Symington said the decision “could create more interest on the part of Israel to Join the nuclear club.” He said that he regretted the decision, and felt it was not based on a true evaluation of the situation. “If the (military) balance was right in the past, how can it now be right, after the approval by France of 100 more planes to Libya, a government which recently demanded that this country get out of our large air base at Tripoli in their country and has expressed openly its sympathy with and support for the Communist satellite countries in the area.” He said he was afraid that this decision was made by the same people who got us into war in Vietnam.

Jacob Javits, Republican Senator of New York, said that President Nixon’s decision “leaves us about where we were.” Javits said he was “disappointed” about the refusal to sell 25 Phantom Jets and 100 Sky hawks to the Israelis, but “gratified” that Nixon was aware of the threat posed by Soviet SAM-3 missiles in Egypt and Israel’s need for planes to replace those lost, and the President’s decision to extend credit to Israel. He said that the decision was “more political than military,” and that the assumption that refusing to sell planes to Israel would make the Arabs more favorable to the U.S. was “grave self-deception.” He said he still favored an arms balance tipped in Israel’s favor, as Nixon had promised during the presidential campaign.

Senator Alan Cranston, Democrat of California, said on the Senate floor that the Nixon administration “Is playing a very dangerous game in the Middle East” in refusing to sell Jets to Israel. “The Nixon administration continues it’s shortsighted policy of seemingly rewarding our enemies and punishing our friends,” Cranston said. He warned that the Soviet SAM-3 missiles being installed in Egypt will shift the balance of military power to the Arabs. “The administration continues to pour billions of dollars and hundreds of American lives into Southeast Asia to prop up corrupt, repressive dictatorships, but will not even allow our Israeli friends the right to purchase arms to defend themselves against Soviet equipped and Soviet trained Arab enemies in the Middle East,” he said. “We must show the Arab nations and the Soviet Union that Israel does not stand alone now before it is too late–too late for Israel and too late for us.”

Rep. Leonard Farbstein, Democrat of New York, scored the administration, declaring: “The so called balance (of power in the Middle East) of which the Secretary of State spoke in his statement does not exist.” Mr. Farbstein said he deplored the decision not to sell Jets to Israel on the grounds that the Israelis had air superiority in the Middle East. “The Secretary’s statement is an inducement (to the Arabs) to try once again to drive Israel into the sea,” Mr. Farbstein said. He claimed the Arabs might be willing to agree to a cease fire and peace negotiations if they knew that the U.S. stood squarely behind the Israelis. Rep. Claude Pepper, Democrat of Florida, said that the Nixon decision would “encourage aggression against Israel and create a greater risk of war in the Middle East.” Rep. Jacob H. Gilbert, Democrat of New York, said that waiting until Israel “reaches some arbitrary breaking point” before furnishing planes may bring aid too late to help Israel. Rep. Jonathan Bingham, Democrat of New York, said he would introduce legislation asking the administration to reconsider its decision.