Sisco Gives Assurances the U.S. Will Not Abandon or Jeopardize Security of Israel

A high ranking State Department official has declared that the United States “won’t abandon or jeopardize the security of Israel” and stressed that American policy in the Middle East still insists on a “binding contractual peace treaty and formal establishment of peace.” Dov Zakin, member of Israel’s Knesset and political secretary of the Mapam faction disclosed today that these assurances were given to him by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joseph Sisco at a meeting in Washington this week. Mr. Zakin is visiting the U.S. as a guest of the “Friends of Givat Haviva.” He said he conferred for three hours with State Department officials including an hour each with Mr. Sisco and Undersecretary of State Roger Davies, on the Middle East.

He said that Mr. Sisco explained in detail the American decision to hold in abeyance Israel’s request for more Phantom and Sky hawk jets, a decision that the Israeli MK strongly criticized. “He told me in strong, unequivocal terms that America has no aim or inclination whatsoever to endanger Israel’s security,” Mr. Zakin said. “He declared in no uncertain terms that the situation in the Middle East, including the balance of power between Israel and the Arabs, will remain under America’s ‘scrutinizing eye’ and the United States will not abandon us.” Mr. Zakin said that Mr. Sisco added that “America is continuing to study the matter of the Phantoms and that all arrangements have been made to carry out immediate steps, as far as supplies are concerned, with the first appearance or even first symptoms of an upset in the balance of power.”

The Israeli said he gained the impression that from now on “all discussions of arms supplies will be conducted outside of the public limelight and strictly through government channels where ‘tachlis’ (substance) can be talked without publicity.” He attributed the Nixon Administration’s negative decision at this time to a “leak” in the number of Phantoms Israel was seeking and to a “slip of the tongue” by President Nixon when he announced a 30-day deadline for the decision. Mr. Zakin said his impression was that the U.S. does not expect anything from resumed bilateral talks with the Soviet Union on the Mideast. “Washington does not expect any peace gestures,” he said.