New Outlook in Israel
Sherman, Aleph V.
The need for arms leads to closer relations with NATO New Outlook in Israel By A. V. Sherman Jerusalem Israel's recent acquisition of two Royal Navy submarines symbolizes the current trend in...
...This does not mean that the U.S...
...Its display of goodwill will enable it to remain neutral in the cold war and even to act as a "bridge between East and West...
...Four Cabinet members (from the fellow-travelling parties) are avowed neutralists...
...But even if Israel manages to match present Arab armored strength, it is faced with a serious problem...
...Since the Anglo-American landings in Jordan and Lebanon, Washington and London have become even more benevolent, as can be seen from the British submarine sale and the Defense Department's recent announcement that it was selling certain kinds of military equipment to Israel...
...After a largely ideological approach to foreign affairs, it is settling down to its place in the cold war as a protege of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization...
...They can be mobilized and deployed within a few days behind a "screen" which consists of the Air Force, the standing Army (composed mainly of two-and-a-half-year draftees), the armed frontier settlements, and an alert intelligence service...
...Nahum Goldman, also has been campaigning for a neutralist foreign policy...
...and British attitudes toward Israel...
...But they can only field about six infantry divisions, a couple of armored divisions, a little more than a dozen jet fighter squadrons, and a couple of jet bomber wings...
...Modern heavy armaments, therefore, are the principal independent variables...
...For while it had to turn to France and Canada for armaments, Washington at least tacitly approved the sales because they included many items controlled by U.S...
...It was an article of faith that, with the ousting of the British, then considered the main instigator of Israeli-Arab hostilities, agreement with the Arabs would soon be reached...
...The Israelis feel that if they are not faced with more powerful armaments, their superior training, morale and leadership will insure victory—even if the Arabs have an advantage in quantity...
...The change is based on hard facts, which have overtaken official thinking...
...Their navy, with five destroyers, ten submarines and supporting craft, would play a secondary role...
...And though the Israeli Government and public leaned over backward to avoid annoying the Soviet Union, Moscow stepped up its anti-Jewish policies...
...He has found some support at least among the non-Socialist Progressive and General Zionist parties (and the former is a member of the coalition Government...
...It was not until 1958 that Premier David Ben Gurion said as much in so many words: "[Unless] we strengthen our position to such an extent that our neighbors will find it worthwhile to accept our presence and work together with us I doubt whether peace will come I doubt whether ideological and moral proofs will have any influence on those who hold the power in these countries...
...and Britain no longer hope to prevent Nasser and his cohorts from "being driven further into Russia's arms...
...They do not handle them well and their maintenance is poor, but Israeli forces have nothing heavier than World War II Shermans and can be easily outgunned and outarmored...
...Many who are responsible for this transition would undoubtedly deny that it has taken place...
...The Sharett school of thinking, which held that an understanding could "somehow" be reached with the Arabs through the good offices of one of the powers and that nothing should be done to jeopardize this, was doomed...
...It also indicates that a strong Israel—like a strong Turkey, Iran or Sudan—is no longer considered a deterrent to appeasing Nasser...
...It led to the Suez-Sinai affair, and, more important, resulted in the realization that Israel could do nothing to speed up peace with the Arabs, except strengthen its defenses and its economy...
...The claim is sincere enough...
...This helps explain the paradox whereby neutralist feeling is strong yet ineffective in Israel...
...Israel, so the legend ran, will in time be integrated into the Middle East...
...Indeed, where military coups d'etat are a kind of officers' plebiscite, commanders are chary of disciplining subordinates...
...Even if the Arab leaders concentrated on social and economic improvements instead of foreign adventures, it would take decades to improve the quality of their conscripts...
...They would like U.S...
...He was unsuccessful, and his failure led to his departure from the Government...
...Far from welcoming Israel as a potential source of enlightenment, the Arab states unamiously made a second round against Israel their major goal...
...At this point the search for armaments led to France, and it began a relationship that has had far-reaching effects for Israel...
...For its psychological value more than for its military value, they would also like an open guarantee of U.S...
...Now, the military manpower and leadership potentials of the Arab countries are pretty well known and are not likely to change in the near future...
...Similarly, Israeli and Histadrut leaders failed in their great efforts to have the Jewish State "accepted" by the African and Asian nations as an Asian land newly-liberated from imperialist rule...
...Israeli leaders recognize, however, that the Anglo-American change in attitude is still only marginal...
...The change from Sharett to Peress epitomized the transition from ideology to equipment...
...Moreover, U.S...
...shipments of surplus foodstuffs to Israel against payment in local currency, together with the tax-exempt financial aid from American Jewry, provided Israel with the foreign currency needed for these armaments purchases...
...The inherent weakness of Arab society is such that it is always fairly easy to seize power, but difficult to hold on to it...
...The resultant competition with Nasser in nationalist extremism could precipitate another Palestine war in much the same way that inter-Arab rivalries helped precipitate the first one...
...With the emergence of Communist-supported "progressive" Arab governments, this hostility was intensified...
...This faith was further strengthened by the belief that feudal rulers, effendi landlords and other reactionaries would eventually be replaced by "progressive elements...
...Numerically, the Arabs have a 40 to 1 advantage over Israel...
...Its main deficiency is in armor...
...Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser may yet take over the other Arab states and attempt to legitimize his hegemony by a victorious "second round" in Palestine...
...Often they can't bring the issues to the public at all because they are shrouded in the secrecy with which defense matters are treated...
...Along with the change in Jerusalem's attitude, there has been a change in the U.S...
...It must maintain parity with its Arab neighbors where quality is concerned, and not fall too far behind in quantity...
...At first, it tried to meet the emergency ideologically, relying on the world's conscience...
...But since all important foreign policy decisions inevitably arise out of defense needs and are presented as defense decisions, the neutralists have been forced to swallow their objections...
...In these circumstances, it is not surprising that the armaments race has gradually come to color Israel's foreign policy at the expense of ideology...
...And since only the Soviet bloc and the NATO countries manufacture a wide range of armaments, Israel's survival obviously depends on its access to NATO-produced arms...
...One of Ben Gurion's "young men," Peress was formerly chief of the Defense Ministry's armaments procurement division...
...The President of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency, Dr...
...True, the present internecine Arab feuds have provided the Jewish State with an unusual rest period...
...like so many innovations, Israel's NATO orientation has come about purely as the reult of adjustments to the pressure of events...
...The then-Foreign Minister, Moshe Sharett, took off for Washington and London and pleaded with them to "save" Israel by providing it with the necessary armaments...
...On the other hand, a Syrian-Iraqi union which includes Jordan (and possibly Lebanon) may emerge...
...The Arabs have several hundred heavy tanks: U.S...
...In 1955, when the Egyptian-Soviet arms deal was concluded, Israel's position became serious...
...support in case of attack...
...The need for arms leads to closer relations with NATO New Outlook in Israel By A. V. Sherman Jerusalem Israel's recent acquisition of two Royal Navy submarines symbolizes the current trend in its foreign policy...
...But it does indicate that they are no longer willing to appease Nasser at the expense of Israel...
...The shift that has taken place in Israel is symbolized by the role that Defense Minister Simon Peress is playing in shaping foreign policy...
...Meanwhile, theory has to catch up as best it can...
...At present, Israel can match Arab air and sea strength...
...aid to be given publicly...
...Many of the better officers have been purged or shifted to civilian jobs, and senior officers spend too much time playing politics...
...it will be a source of enlightenment for its neighbors, and an industrial center and market for raw materials...
...But, given the instability which may be expected to characterize the Middle East for a long time to come, no one rules out the possibility of a joint Arab offensive against Israel...
...In fact, the statement most frequently heard is: "Our basic attitudes have not changed at all during the past ten years...
...The Sinai campaign also confirmed Israeli assumptions that the officers' revolutions, far from improving the quality of military leadership, had caused it to deteriorate...
...Israel's chief problem is the acquisition of armaments...
...licensing agreements and other arrangements within NATO's framework...
...The ferment in Syria is growing : anti-Egyptian feeling and the desire for union with Iraq are stronger than ever...
...Pattons, British Centurions, and Russian Stalins and T-34s...
...The achievements of Saladin, who invaded Palestine from Egypt and ousted the Crusaders, are a recurrent theme in Nasser's propaganda...
...When the state was founded ten years ago, the thinking of its Socialist leaders was reflected by their announced determination to remain neutral...
...With technological developments rapidly outdating weapons, and the Arabs assured of the latest military fashions from the Russians, Israel must also develop a constant source of supply or face the threat of extermination...
...Thus, their main foreign policy goal at the moment is to make it permanent, to have Israel's "affiliated" status publicly recognized...
...Thanks to an excellent reserve system, Israel can put roughly the same number of trained forces into the field...
...So here, too, the potentials are more or less known...
...But these illusions were soon shattered...
...Nasser still controls the Syrian Army and police, but it is by no means certain that he can do so for long if he fails to cement his grip on nearby Iraq...
Vol. 41 • November 1958 • No. 42
