Israel's American Question

...President Sadat might well have accepted American use of the bases as a compromise Under the existing circumstances, he was not willing to go along w ith what could hay e been presented by his enemies as an infnngement on Egyptian sovereignty in the Sinai The Egyptians countered with a plan for the U S to establish (or take over) bases on the West Bank, apparently as an alternative to an Israeli presence there after the transitional autonomy period Dayan, the Foreign Minister at the time, reportedly favored the scheme briefly But Begin suspected that it might later be used as an excuse for getting Israeli forces out of the West Bank Washington officials also objected, claiming that the bases would become targets for Palestinian terrorist attacks Once the implications of the Iranian crisis began to sink in, Sadat did become intensely interested in a strong American presence in the area Bv then, though, the rejection of the Sinai air-bases idea had been too widely publicized to leav e Sadat room for reconsideration The West Bank plan was dropped as unattractive from a strategic point of view, and as undesirable in the opinion ot the State Department Middle East experts who were primarily concerned with the reaction of the Palestinians Israeli government officials had hoped that with President Reagan s expressed desire to establish a meaningful military presence in the Middle East, there would be a chance to revive the Snui airbases proposal But the new \dmin-istration may be even moie sensitive to Saudi desires and dislikes than the Carter Administration was There is good reason to suspect that Riyadh's hostility toward Israel and Camp David will supersede an ideal solution toi \men-c.t s security needs m ihc Middle Last and I oi sa I egu.ii ding l hope .lee between Lgvpt and Isiael...

...DEFENSE OPTIONS Israel's American QueStiOn BY ELWKJ SAIPETER Tel Avtv Recent taxk in Washington concerning the stationing of American troops in Israel to insure its security makes most people in this country nervous Despite frequent evidence to the contrary, the average Israeli is reasonably sophisticated about the world around him and is aware of the negative consequences that would result from U S military presence here "Only an enemy of Israel could seriously suggest such an idea " a young business executive remarked the other day "Imagine the blow to our image and goodwill in the States after the headline m the New York Times reading, 'First American Soldier Killed in Israel I don't even want to think about it'" He may have a flair for the dramatic, but the young executive was expressing a widely held view Israelis feel that having U S troops take part in the defense of their country would be looked upon by Americans as the Vietnamiza-tion of the Arab-Israeli conflict Moshe Dayan and Ezer Weizman considered this a fundamental policy premise during the time each served as Minister of Defense In fact, for years Dayan attracted widespread attention in foreign press interviews by declaring "We do not want a single American to die for Israel All we want is to be able to defend ourselves " Nothing has happened to change that view Israel is still convinced that its only reliable shield is maintaining the ability of its own soldiers to fend off any Arab attacker But with the stepped up flow of Western arms and growing Soviet activity threatening to tip the balance in the Middle East, there is a clear desire now for increased American involvement in the region as a political backup of Israeli defense capabilities The implementation of American guarantees under the Camp David agreements and the Reagan Administration's inclination to strengthen the U S military presence in the Middle East, the Begin government believes, tend to coincide and provide an opportunity for a heightened American role At Camp David, former President Carter undertook to arrange for a Multilateral Force if the U S could not obtain a UN Force to patrol and supervise the Israel-Egyptian border after Israel completed itswithdrawalfromSinannApnll982 Since it is obvious that the Soviet-Arab alliance at Turtle Bay will prevent the establishment of such a UN supervisory umt, Washington will have to organize a substitute outfit with American soldiers participating m a major way alongside soldiers from other (possibly South American) friendly countries This situation, the Israeli reasoning goes, affords an excellent justification for statiomng American troops where they would be in a position to protect the oil-rich region against Soviet takeover And, theoretically at least, that Eliahu Salpeter, a regularNL contributor, is a correspondent for Ha'aretz, one of the leading newspapers in Israel move could take one of four forms or some combination of them 1. American Mutual Security Pact with one or more Arab countries, 2 American Mutual Security Pact with Israel, 3. The Establishment of aU S base or military facility in one or more Arab countries, 4 The establishment of a U S military facility in Israel Each of these possibilities has its problems Given the present anti-American attitude of the so-called Third World, for example, it is highly unlikely that any Arab country would sign a mutual defense pact with the U S The same holds true for permitting the establishment of American bases (Even President Anwar Sadat, in offering the United States the use of Egyptian facilities for the defense of the Arab countries, hastened to add that he would not allow American bases on Egyptian territory ) As for Israel, in the past the government has been torn between wanting to anchor Israel's security in some form of international defense arrangement and the suspicion that the other (American) party would insist upon limiting its obligations to the pre-June 1967 boundaries Nevertheless, Prime Minister Begin has lately indicated that he would definitely be favorably disposed to a US initiative Inaddition,MosheDayan has expressed certainty that should the U S ask for bases m Israel, the response would be positive A poll conducted last year by the Israel Public Opinion Research Institute found that 46 per cent of Israelis favored American use of bases in Israel, and 32 6 per cent were opposed There was stronger support for the idea in the higher socio-economic sectois ot the population, among university giadu-ates it was 50 pel cent Men, mgcncial, wci e much more I avoi able (55 per cent) than women (37 per cent) The mosl iccent Israeli pionouiuLament in (he matter came early last month when a Toi cign Ministt \ spokesman, in iespouse to questions, stated Isiacl would considei lavoi.iblv a request horn I lie Aincin.au government for the provision of military bases or service facilities Jerusalem, however, he was careful to note, "has often stated that it does not want foreign troops to defend Israel " The apparent eagerness with which the Begin government has offered the use of Israeli territory to the U S has been criticized both by politicians and in the press This is not a reflection of anti-American sentiment Rather it is felt that the stance is self-demeaning in the light of Washington's evident lack of haste to take up the offer Especially since the fall of the Shah in Iran and the attack of the Moslem fanatics on the Kaaba in Mecca, the critics observe, government spokesmen here have never missed an opportunity to stress that Israel is the only truly reliable ally of the West in the Middle East It is regrettable, they say, that the West, hypnotized bv a sense of utter dependence on Arab oil, does not see matters the same wav But they wonder vv hether Israel's continued assertion of its readiness to cooperate and make its land available is not actually counterproductive The BhST chance for establishing an American presence in t he M iddle East ma\ well hav e been missed at C amp Dav id, during the discussion about the late of the three big Israeli airbases m the Sinai Prime Minister Begin suggested to President Caiter that the bases—the most modern and sophisticated outside N \TO?should be taken over b\ the V s \ir loiccallci Isiaerswiihdrjvv.il Latter replied that the idea had already been considered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but that this was not something Washington could propose The offer had to come j otntly from Jerusalem and Cairo Had Israel been less straightforward and not agreed to complete withdrawal from Sinai at the outset of the talks...