Sen. Richard S. Schweiker (R. Pa.) said here last night that growing Arab unity in the Middle East is a “double-edged sword” that could be a potential threat or a potential benefit to Israel. Addressing more than 3000 persons attending a Yom Haatzmaut celebration sponsored by the American Zionist Federation of South Florida, Schweiker observed that “The splintered and fragmented political situation in the Arab world has historically been one of the most unsettling factors in the Middle East.”
He said that “In times of war, these divisions have worked to Israel’s advantage.” But, he warned, “growing Arab unity could be one of the greatest threats to Israel if there should be an out-break of hostilities in the Middle East.”
Schweiker, the ranking Republican member of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that on the other hand “In the search for peace Arab unity could conceivably work to Israel’s advantage. If the Arab world could speak as one voice, discussions at the bargaining table would be greatly facilitated. In the past, no Arab state has been able to speak for any other and no Arab state has been able to guarantee that its own people will keep the peace,” Schweiker said.
The Senator said that Israel has learned “that peace does not come from vague, non-binding assurances or tacit signals from individual Arab states. And any plan–if it is to last–must guarantee Israel absolute recognition of her permanent right to exist in peace and secure, recognized and defensible borders.”
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