President Reagan told American Jewish leaders Wednesday that he will never sell arms to moderate Arab countries that would threaten the security of Israel.
“I will not consider any measure, including arms sales to moderate Arab countries” if it endangered the security of Israel, Reagan told some 100 Jewish leaders attending a White House briefing for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
His remarks came at the end of a speech in which he urged the support of the Jewish community for his request to Congress for $100 million to aid the Contras in their opposition to the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
Kenneth Bialkin, chairman of the President’s Conference, in expressing gratitude to the President for his remarks, voiced “concern” over providing arms to Arab countries that do not support the peace process. He said arms should only be sold to those Arab countries that “move into the direction of peace.”
Bialkin suggested that if Egypt, Jordan and Israel worked together on a joint economic program, “that may bring peace faster than arms.”
ARMS SALE IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE
Reagan replied that any arms sale will be made in the cause of peace. He reiterated his pledge that nothing will be done to diminish Israel’s “qualitative and quantitative” military edge.
The President did not refer to his plan to sell Saudi Arabia $300 million in advanced missiles. But Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, who spoke after the President left, said that the Administration was still considering the Saudi package and that Reagan was “committed” to selling the Saudis arms.
Murphy maintained that selling arms to moderate Arab countries is in the “best interests” of both the United States and Israel since it contributes to regional security and thwarts efforts by the Soviet Union and radicals to increase their influence in the area.
He said that if the Arab countries turn to other suppliers there would not be the same safeguards that the U.S. imposes. “Using our sale as a lever to reward or punish political behavior is shortsighted and counter-productive,” Murphy said. “We are not going to advance the peace process by attempting to somehow compel participants to the negotiating table.”
Murphy indicated that there would be less opposition in Congress to the missile sale to the Saudis than there was to the Jordan arms sale which Reagan had to withdraw earlier this year.
SUPPORT TO THE CONTRAS STRESSED
On aid to the Contras, Reagan stressed that the Sandinistas, whom he called Marxist-Leninists, are close to the Palestine Liberation Organization, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, and Iran. He charged that the Sandinistas were aiming to bring all of Central America under Soviet control and warned that if the U.S. had to contend with “hostile aggressive Communist states” so close to its borders, “how will we be able to meet our commitments to our allies?”
“Our supply lines to Israel and NATO run through the Caribbean,” the President asserted. “If we show ourselves willing to abandon our friends” close to the U.S., Reagan warned that the Soviets may then decide that they are able to threaten Israel directly.
Bialkin indicated support for the President on this issue. He said that while the Jewish community is not unanimous, “I believe the overwhelming sympathy and support of the American Jewish community lies with those who wish to fight for their freedom.”
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.
