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Jewish Men's Club, East Rockaway, NY, February 28, 1968
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Jewish Men's Club, East Rockaway, NY, February 28, 1968
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D23, folder "Jewish Men's Club, East
Rockaway, NY, February 28, 1968" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and
Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
ADDRESS BEFORE JEWISH MEN'S CLUB AT EAST ROCKAWAY, N.Y.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 29, 1968.
I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU TONIGHT SOME OF MY
THOUGHTS ON DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
WHILE OUR GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN PREOCCUPIED WITH EVENTS
IN THE FAR EAST, THE SOVIET UNION HAS TURNED THE MASSIVE
SET-BACK OF LAST JUNE'S SIX-DAY WAR INTO A VICTORY IN TERMS OF
REGIONAL PENETRATION.
THE ADMINISTRATION HAS DEVELOPED NO DEFINITIVE POLICY
THE MIDD&E EAST.
TO MEET THE PROBLEMS OF
THIS
REGION.
THERE HAS BEEN TALK OF
"FIVE POINTS," AND SO FORTH. BUT MAINLY WE HAVE DRIFTED.
TONIGHT THERE IS TALK OF UNITED NATIONS-SPONSORED
PEACE TALKS. BUT THE DETAILS ARE OBSCURE. I FEEL THAT THE
STATE OF ISRAEL WOULD BE WELL-ADVISED TO RETAIN TERRITORIES
PRESENTLY OCCUPIED AND NOT BUDGE UNTIL SUCH TIME AS
APPROPRIATE MUTUAL ARRANGEMENTS ARE MADE IN FACE-TO-FACE
Digitized from Box D23 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
TALKS AGREEABLE TO BOTH SIDES. PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES WITH THE
UNITED NATIONS WOULD INDICATE THE NEED FOR CAUTION.
THE FLUCTUATIONS OF UNITED STATES POLICY ARE SUCH THAT
I FRANKLY HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO DETERMINE JUST WHAT OUR WAVERING
POLICY IS. I THINK IT IS A NON-POLICY.
IT IS SO LACKING IN REALITY THAT IT IS LIKE AN ARABIAN
DESERT MIRAGE. THE HARDER ONE LOOKS AT IT, THE LESS ONE SEES.
IN TERMS OF U.S. POLICY, WE ARE LOOKING AT A VACUUM
IN THE MIDDLE EAST--A VERY DANGEROUS VACUUM. THE POWER AND
INFLUENCE OF THE SOVIET UNION IS FLOWING INTO IT.
YET PRESIDENT JOHNSON DID NOT EVEN MENTION IN HIS
RECENT STATE OF THE UNION MESSAGE THAT A NEW POWER STRUCTURE,
VERY HAZARDOUS TO FREEDOM, THE HAD DEVELOPED DURING THE LAST YEAR
IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND MEDITERRANEAN. HE DID NOT CALL
ATTENTION TO THE DRAMATIC AND AGGRESSIVE RUSSIAN MOVES IN
-3-
THAT REGION.
BUT THE PRESIDENT USED MANY WORDS TO EXPLAIN AND
JUSTIFY HIS POSITION ON VIETNAM. HE HAS SAID MANY TIMES THAT
WE ARE IN VIETNAM TO DRAW A LINE AGAINST COMMUNIST AGGRESSION.
I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE KEEPING FAITH WITH OUR
BRAVE MEN IN VIETNAM, WHO ARE HOLDING THE LINE, WHEN WE ARE
SO MYSTERIOUSLY SILENT ABOUT THE END RUN THE RUSSIANS ARE TAKING
THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST AND INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN.
THE SOVIET UNION SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT AMERICAN
PREOCCUPATION IN VIETNAM LAST SPRING BY INSTIGATING AND AIDING
THE ARAB MOVE AGAINST ISRAEL. YET AN AUTHORIZED SPOKESMAN FOR
THE JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED, WHEN THE OUTCOME WAS
IN DOUBT, THAT WE WERE "NEUTRAL IN THOUGHT, WORD AND DEED."
THE HEART-WARMING SIX-DAY VICTORY ACHIEVED BY ISRAEL
WAS THE ONLY REASSURING TRIUMPH OF FREE MEN AGAINST COMMUNISM
-4-
AND AGGRESSION IN A LONG TIME. BUT I HAVE YET TO HEAR OUR
PRESIDENT PUBLICLY VOICE GRATIFICATION THAT ISRAEL, A FREE
NATION, HAS DEFEATED AGGRESSION.
THE RUSSIANS, OF COURSE, ARE USING THE RADICAL ARAB
REGIMES BY PROXY JUST AS THE NAZIS USED SPAIN IN THE 1930'S --
TO TEST THEIR NEW WEAPONS. AND, MORE IMPORTANT, TO TEST THE
WILL OF THE DEMOCRACIES.
LET US RECALL THAT THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY A
SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILE WAS USED TO SINK A SHIP IT WAS A
SOVIET "STYX" MISSILE. THE VICTIM WAS AN ISRAELI DESTROYER.
THE SOVIET NAVY WAS OPERATING IN THE AREA WHERE AN
ISRAELI SUBMARINE MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED, SUDDENLY AND
WITHOUT A TRACE, ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGO.
THE RUSSIANS HAVE EMBARKED ON A DANGEROUS GAME IN THE
MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EAST. THEY ARE PLAYING FOR HIGH
-5-
STAKES. BRITAIN HAS WITHDRAWN FROM COMMITMENTS EAST OF SUEZ.
FRANCE HAS DESERTED NATO. THE KREMLIN IS USING THE ARABS TO
TURN THE MEDITERRANEAN INTO A RUSSIAN LAKE.
LAST YEAR THERE WERE A SCANT HALF-DOZEN RUSSIAN NAVAL
SHIPS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. NOW THERE ARE ABOUT 50, ALMOST
ON A PAR WITH THE U.S. SIXTH FLEET.
THE RUSSIANS ARE MOVING TO OUTFLANK NATO'S LAND-BASED
HAVE
DEFENSES. IN THE NORTH, THE RUSSIANS MADE THE BALTIC A VIRTUAL
RED SEA. THEIR WARSHIPS IN THE BALTIC NOW OUTNUMBER NATO
FORCES 5 TO 1.
A MASSIVE SOVIET NAVAL PROGRAM IS UNDER WAY. THE
HAVE
JOHNSON ADMINISTRATION IS FAILING TO KEEP PACE. WE JUST HEARD
A WARNING FROM THE JOINT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC
ENERGY THAT THE UNITED STATES MIGHT BE "UNABLE TO COUNTER THE
RAPIDLY INCREASING SOVIET SUBMARINE THREAT" UNLESS THE
ADMINISTRATION CHANGES ITS POLICIES ON CONSTRUCTION OF
-6-
NUCLEAR SUBMARINES. ADMIRAL HYMAN RICKOVER HAS LONG BEEN
MAKING THIS VERY POINT.
INDEED, THE RUSSIANS ALREADY HAVE 55 NUCLEAR SUBMARINES
TO OUR 75 WHILE POSSESSING 305 CONVENTIONAL SUBMARINES TO OUR
80.
THERE ARE ALSO THE QUESTIONS OF DEFICIENCIES IN
MACH
ADMINISTRATION PLANNING TO MEET THE NEW
SOVIET JET
INTERCEPTOR WHICH FLIES OVER 1800 MILES PER HOUR. AND NOW WE
HEAR THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE RAPIDLY CLOSING THE MISSILE GAP WITH
A MOBILE ICBM.
RUSSIA HAS THE WORLD'S FASTEST GROWING MERCHANT FLEET.
ITS TONNAGE WILL SURPASS OUR OWN BY THE EARLY 1970'S. SIXTY
PER CENT OF U.S. NAVAL WARSHIPS ARE 25 YEARS OLD OR OLDER.
THE RUSSIAN NAVY IS SLEEK AND MODERN.
THE NEW CHALLENGE OF RUSSIAN SEAPOWER AND PENETRATION
-7-
OF THE MEDITERRANEAN MAY HAUNT US LONG AFTER WE FINISH WITH
HO CHI MINH. SOVIET SHIPS AND SUBMARINES BOLDLY SHADOW EVERY
UNIT OF THE SIXTH FLEET. NOW WE LEARN THAT THE RUSSIAN NAVY
IS SHADOWING EVEN ISRAELI MERCHANT VESSELS
THE RUSSIANS HAVE BUILT TWO AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, THE
"MOSCOW" AND "LENINGRAD," SIMILAR TO OUR IWO JIMA-TYPE
CARRIERS USED OFF VIETNAM. THE SOVIET AIM IS TO USE SUCH
VESSELS FOR AMPHIBIOUS SUPPORT IN AREAS LIKE THE MIDDLE EAST.
WE KNOW THAT RUSSIA IS MOVING A NEWLY-FORMED MARINE
LANDING FORCE, CALLED THE "BLACK BERETS," INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN
THEY ARE ABOARD SPECIAL LANDING CRAFT THAT CARRY AMPHIBIOUS
TANKS.
DESCRIBING
MEANWHILE, ARAB TERRORISTS ARE
THEMSELVES
AS THE "VIET CONG OF THE MIDDLE EAST." THE ISRAELIS COULD BE
HIT ALONG THE CEASE-FIRE LINES BY TERRORISTS WHO RETREAT
-8-
BEHIND A PRIVILEGED SANCTUARY IF THE RUSSIANS MOVED IN THEIR
AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND AMPHIBIOUS FORCES AS A SCREEN TO
DEFEND ARAB TERRITORY.
THE SOVIET UNION HAS MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT SHE
ACTIVELY SUPPORTS THE MOST MILITANT ARABS. THE RED NAVY IS
OPERATING OUT OF THE PORTS OF ALEXANDRIA AND PORT SAID IN
EGYPT, LATAKIA IN SYRIA, AND PERHAPS SOON FROM YEMEN AND ADEN
ON THE RED SEA, MENACING THE INDIAN OCEAN, AND FROM MERS-EL-
KEBIR IN ALGERIA, WITHIN RANGE OF GIBRALTAR.
IS ALL THIS BUILD-UP SOLELY TO ERADICATE ISRAEL? THE
OBJECTIVES ARE FAR GREATER. IT IS THE DOMINANCE OF THE ENTIRE
THE
REGION AND 60 PER CENT OF WORLD S OIL RESOURCES. IT IS THE
NEUTRALIZATION OF EUROPE. IT IS THE FATE OF AFRICA. IT IS
EVEN THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AMERICA.
ALREADY WE SEE RUSSIAN GAINS. THREE MEMBERS OF THE
-9-
CENTRAL TREATY ORGANIZATION -- TURKEY, IRAN, AND PAKISTAN --
ARE PURSUING CLOSER RELATIONS WITH MOSCOW. THE TURKS ARE
BUILDING STRONGER ECONOMIC TIES WITH RUSSIA. IRAN AND
PAKISTAN, WHICH RECEIVED MUCH AID FROM THE U.S. TAXPAYER, ARE
BUYING RUSSIAN ARMS. INDIA IS BUYING SOVIET SUBMARINES.
THE RUSSIANS HAVE RESUPPLIED THE ARABS WITH EVEN MORE
MODERN WEAPONS THAN THOSE LOST IN THE WAR LAST JUNE. SOVIET
MILITARY OFFICERS ARE TO BE FOUND ADVISING AT EVERY ECHELON OF
COMMAND IN THE EGYPTIAN ARMED FORCES. RUSSIAN HEAVY BOMBERS,
MANNED BY SOVIET AIR FORCE CREWS, HAVE FLOWN FROM EGYPTIAN
AIR BASES.
THE CHINESE COMMUNIST RADIO BROADCAST FROM PEKING IN
ARABIC ON FEB. 18 THAT ARAB TERRORISTS WERE INSPIRED BY THE
VIET CONG. A SPOKESMAN FOR THE ARAB TERRORIST GROUP STATED IN
DAMASCUS THAT "OUR BATTLES IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY ENJOY
-10-
INCREASING SUPPORT FROM THE ARAB MASSES THERE. WE HAVE
THOROUGHLY UNDERSTOOD CHAIRMAN MAO'S TEACHINGS ABOUT THE
RELATIONS BETWEEN THE POPULAR ARMY AND THE PEOPLE, WHICH ARE
SIMILAR TO THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FISH AND THE WATER."
A FEW DAYS LATER, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE EGYPTIAN NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY, ANWAR SADAT, NASSER'S RIGHT-HAND MAN, CABLED NORTH
VIETNAM AND NORTH KOREA OF ARAB SUPPORT IN THE "STRUGGLE AGAINST
AGGRESSION" AND EXPRESSED "SOLIDARITY IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST
THE RACISTS."
MR. SADAT WAS IN WASHINGTON LAST YEAR AS A GUEST OF THE
ADMINISTRATION.
THE ARAB PRESS AND RADIO ALSO VOICED HOPE THAT SUCH
PERSONS AS H. RAP BROWN AND STOKELY CARMICHAEL PROVIDE
AMERICAN CITIES WITH A "VIET CONG" SUMMER.
THE OFFICIAL RADIO OF JORDAN BROADCAST A DEFENSE OF
-11-
SOVIET NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE REGION. THE JORDANIANS SAID
THIS WAS MERELY A MOVE TO DEFEND THE ARABS AGAINST ISRAEL.
WHAT WAS PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S RESPONSE TO ALL THIS?
THE ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED THAT TANKS, ARTILLERY, AND EVEN
F-104 STARFIGHTER SUPERSONIC JETS WERE BEING PROVIDED TO JORDAN
THE JORDANIAN ARMED FORCES ARE STILL LINKED WITH A UNIFIED ARAB
HIGH COMMAND ADVISED BY RUSSIAN GENERALS. THE ARAB TERRORISTS,
KNOWN AS THE "EL FATAH," OPERATE FROM JORDANIAN TERRITORY,
FREQUENTLY WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE JORDANIAN ARMY.
ON THE VERY DAY THAT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF ARMS FOR
JORDAN WAS PUBLISHED IN WASHINGTON, THE TERRORIST ATTACKS
FROM JORDAN REACHED SUCH INTENSITY THAT ISRAELI ARMED FORCES
WERE FORCED TO BOMB BASES OF AGGRESSION ON THE EAST BANK OF
THE RIVER THAT SERVES AS THE CEASE-FIRE LINE.
THE ARAB TERRORISTS ARE ALREADY USING RUSSIAN AND
-12-
CHINESE MACHINE-GUNS AND MINES OF TYPES USED IN VIETNAM. NOW
THEY WILL HAVE HEAVY WEAPONS--FINANCED, NO DOUBT, BY OUR
TAXPAYERS.
THE ADMINISTRATION MAINTAINED THAT SUPPLYING ARMS TO
JORDAN WAS NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN THE THRONE OF KING HUSSEIN.
IF HE GOES, THEY SAY, THE EXTREMISTS MIGHT COME. IT SEEMS TO
ME THAT THE EXTREMISTS ARE ALREADY THERE.
THE LEAST THAT THE ADMINISTRATION COULD HAVE ASKED
FROM JORDAN IN EXCHANGE FOR THE ARMS IS THAT SHE MAKE PEACE
WITH ISRAEL. THAT SEEMS A REASONABLE ENOUGH CONDITION. THERE
IS ALSO THE VERY REAL DANGER THAT ARMS SHIPPED TO THE SHA
HUSSEIN REGIME MAY END UP IN OTHER HANDS. IT IS LIKE SENDING
OUR F-104'S "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.'
IF THE SOVIET MILITARY EXPERTS NEED ANY OF THESE ARMS
FOR TESTING, TO PERFECT METHODS FOR DESTROYING OUR FORCES IN
-13-
VIETNAM, THEY NEED ONLY APPLY TO THEIR ARAB FRIENDS.
I MUST NOTE THAT PRESIDENT JOHNSON, WHILE HE HAS
AUTHORIZED SUPERSONIC JET FIGHTERS FOR THE ARABS, HAS AGREED
ONLY TO SELL SOME SUBSONIC DOUGLAS SKYHAWKS TO ISRAEL. THE
TRANSACTION WITH ISRAEL WAS SIGNED TWO YEARS AGO. THE PLANES
ARE, FOR THE GREATEST PART, AS YET UNDELIVERED. THEY ARE
ALLOWED TO TRICKLE OUT, ONE BY ONE. IT WILL BE 1969 BEFORE
ISRAEL GETS ALL OF THEM.
ISRAEL, MEANWHILE, NOTED THE SOVIET ESCALATION IN THE
REGION AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF FRENCH CANCELLATION OF ALL
SUPERSONIC JETS ORDERED BY THE ISRAELIS.
AN APPLICATION WAS MADE BY ISRAEL TO BUY 50 SUPERSONIC
PHANTOM JETS FROM THE UNITED STATES TO MEET CURRENT NEEDS
BECAUSE OF THE NEW SITUATION. PRESIDENT JOHNSON HAS DEFERRED
ACTION. IT HAS BEEN HINTED THAT THE PLANES MAY BE SOLD NEXT
-14-
AUTUMN, AT THE TIME OF THE ELECTION.
THOSE PHANTOM JETS SHOULD BE ON THEIR WAY NOW. THEY
ARE VITAL TO ISRAEL'S DETERRENT CAPACITY. IT TAKES TIME TO
TRAIN PILOTS, TECHNICIANS, AND MECHANICS FOR SUCH SOPHISTICATED
EQUIPMENT.
THE 1964 PLANK ON THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE DEMOCRATIC
PLATFORM SOLEMNLY PROMISED TO GUARD "AGAINST THE DANGERS OF A
MILITARY IMBALANCE RESULTING FROM SOVIET ARMS SHIPMENTS." IS
THE ADMINISTRATION DOING THIS BY SHIPPING U.S. ARMS TO SOME
ARABS TO BALANCE THE RUSSIAN ARMS RECEIVED BY OTHER ARABS --
WITH ALL THE GUNS POINTING AGAINST ISRAEL?
LET ME PAUSE HERE TO ASK, WHERE IS OUR NATIONAL SELF-
RESPECT. THE EGYPTIANS HAVE BURNED DOWN OUR CONSULATES, SPIT
ON THE AMERICAN FLAG, ABUSED U.S. CITIZENS, SEVERED DIPLOMATIC
-15-
15
RELATIONS, LIED ABOUT OUR ROLE IN THE SIX-DAY WAR, COLLABORATED
-16-
WITH THE COMMUNISTS, PRAISED NORTH KOREA FOR SEIZING THE
PUEBLO, CONGRATULATED THE VIET CONG FOR THE TET OFFENSIVE --
AND YET THE ADMINISTRATION STILL INSISTS THAT WE BUY EGYPTIAN
COTTON. ARE WE TO IMPOSE/TRAVEL TAX ON AMERICANS VISITING,
FOR INSTANCE, IN ISRAEL -- BUT PERMIT DOLLARS TO GO TO EGYPT
TO SUPPORT THE RUSSIAN MUNITIONS INDUSTRY
I HAVE HEARD REPORTS IN WASHINGTON THAT THE
ADMINISTRATION IS EAGER TO RESUME RELATIONS WITH EGYPT IN HOPES
OF WOOING NASSER BY RESUMING AID TO HIS GOVERNMENT.
WE WOULD DO MUCH BETTER TO SPEND SUCH SUMS FOR THE
STRENGTHENING OF THE SIXTH FLEET.
IF IT IS DESIRABLE TO TO DRAW A LINE IN VIETNAM, WHY
PERMIT THE ARAB VIET CONGARAMPAGE ACROSS THE CEASE-FIRE LINES
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
WHY IS PRESIDENT JOHNSON STILL TRAINING 25 ARAB PILOTS,
-17-
FROM JORDAN, AT U.S. AIRBASES IN TEXAS ? IT IS IRONIC THAT
WHILE PRIME MINISTER ESHKOL OFISRAEL WAS A GUEST AT THE LBJ
RANCH, ARAB PILOTS WERE FLYING OVER HIS HEAD IN STARFIGHTER
JETS.
LET US NOW LEAVE THE MIDDLE EAST TO DISCUSS A RELATED
AND TIMELY ISSUE INVOLVING THE SOVIET UNION.
THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD WAS NOT AROUSED UNTIL TOO
LATE WHEN NAZI GENOCIDE LIQUIDATED OVER SIX MILLION JEWISH
PEOPLE IN EUROPE. TODAY WE FIND A CRUEL IRONY. SOME OF THE
SURVIVORS OF NAZISM, THOSE WHO RESIDE IN THE SOVIET UNION, FIND
THEMSELVES AGAIN SUBJECTED TO DISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT BECAUSE
OF THEIR RELIGIOUS FAITH.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SOVIET UNION HAS EMBARKED ON A
SUBTLE CAMPAIGN OF CULTURAL GENOCIDE. TO DESTROY THE JEWS AS
A PEOPLE AND JUDAISM AS A RELIGION. I HAVE HEARD THAT THERE
-18-
ARE ONLY FOUR RABBIS, ALL VERY ELDERLY MEN, LEFT IN THE
ENTIRE SOVIET UNION WHICH HAS A JEWISH POPULATION OF OVER THREE
MILLION. THIS IS BECAUSE SOVIET AUTHORITIES HAVE LIQUIDATED
JEWISH EDUCATION, RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS, SEMINARIES, AND SO FORTH,
TO THE EXTENT THAT NO NEW RABBIS OR RELIGIOUS TEACHERS ARE
BEING TRAINED.
JEWS IN RUSSIA ARE DENIED EVEN THE MEAGER RELIGIOUS
FACILITIES PERMITTED NON-JEWISH MINORITY GROUPS. PRESSURES
AGAINST THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INTENSIFIED FOLLOWING THE
DEFEAT BY ISRAEL OF THE RUSSIAN-BACKED ARAB AGGRESSION. WHEN
THE USSR SEVERED DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL LAST JUNE,
ALL EXIT VISAS FOR JEWS WERE ABRUPTLY CANCELLED.
IT SHOULD BE A MATTER OF DEEP CONCERN TO ALL HUMANITY
THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE SCAPEGOATING THE JEWS -- IN EFFECT,
HOLDING THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE HOSTAGES FOR THE BEHAVIOR OF THE
-19-
STATE OF ISRAEL.
A WAVE OF PROPAGANDA, REMINISCENT OF THE NAZI ERA OF
CRUEL CARICATURES, HAS FLOODED THE STATE-CONTROLLED SOVIET
PRESS.
A NUMBER OF THE YOUNG RUSSIAN WRITERS RECENTLY SENT TO
JAIL FOR PUBLISHING IDEAS CHALLENGING THE TOTALITARIAN CONCEPT
WERE JEWISH.
SOME OF AMERICA'S MOST EMINENT CITIZENS ARE PERSONS OF
JEWISH FAITH WHO STILL HAVE RELATIVES IN RUSSIA. THERE IS A
TERRIBLE ANGUISH IN REALIZING THAT ANOTHER GENERATION OF
OPPRESSION AND SYSTEMATIC CULTURAL GENOCIDE MAY FINALLY LIQUI-
DATE THE ONCE-FLOURISHING RUSSIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY.
AT TIMES IN THE PAST, ONCE WHEN TAFT WAS PRESIDENT AND
EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE PRESIDENCY OF GEN. U.S. GRANT, THE
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT USED ITS INFLUENCE TO AMELIORATE
-20-
ANTI-JEWISH PRESSURES ABROAD. OUR GOVERNMENT HAS EXPRESSED
ITSELF ON THE RACIAL POLICIES OF THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA AND
RHODESIA. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY MORE CANNOT BE DONE IN
WASHINGTON TO LET THE RULERS OF THE SOVIET UNION KNOW THAT
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CARES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS
TO THE RUSSIANS OF JEWISH FAITH.
SOME SAY THAT IT IS ALL TOO EASY FOR AN OPPOSITION
POLITICAL PARTY TO OPPOSE POLICIES OF THE ADMINISTRATION. IN
THIS INSTANCE I WANT VERY SINCERELY TO PROPOSE A POLICY TO HELP
RUSSIAN JEWS. NO SUCH POLICY EXISTS IN THE JOHNSON
ADMINISTRATION.
I BELIEVE THAT RUSSIA IS RESPONSIVE, WITHIN CERTAIN
LIMITS, TO THE PRESSURE OF WORLD PUBLIC OPINION. I BELIEVE
THERE ARE THINGS THAT THE KREMLIN WANTS FROM THE UNITED STATES.
LAST YEAR THE RUSSIANS WERE VERY EAGER FOR THE AGREEMENT TO
-20-
PERMIT THE SOVIET AIRLINE, AEROFLOT, TO HAVE LANDING RIGHTS AT
KENNEDY AIRPORT. AN AGREEMENT WAS MADE TO EXCHANGE LANDING
RIGHTS. THE RUSSIANS REMAIN EXTREMELY ANXIOUS TO EXPAND
EAST-WEST TRADE.
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE TIME HAS COME TO TAKE
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TO DRAMATIZE TO THE RUSSIANS THAT WE MEAN
BUSINESS ON THE ISSUE OF THEIR TREATMENT OF MINORITIES. WHEN
THE NEXT MEISURE COMES BEFORE THE CONGRESS INVOLVING EAST-WEST
TRADE OR A SIMILAR APPROPRIATE BILL, I WILL ADVOCATE AN
AMENDMENT, I HOPE WITH BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT, TO EXPRESS THE
SENSE OF THE CONGRESS THAT THE SOVIET UNION SHOULD DISPLAY
CONCERN FOR AMERICAN OPINION IN SOVIET POLICIES AFFECTING THE
JEWS.
OUR FEDERAL LAWS NOW REQUIRE THAT ALL BUSINESS CONCERNS
TRADING WITH THE GOVERNMENT TREAT EMPLOYEES ON A NON-
DISCRIMINATORY BASIS. I DO NOT SEE WHY WE CANNOT MAKE SUCH A
-2%-
REQUEST OF THE FOREIGN NATIONS WITH WHICH WE TRADE, WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO THE SOVIET UNION. THE NOTORIOUS ANTI-RELIGIOUS
POLICIES OF THE SOVIET UNION MIGHT BE AMELIORIATED IF THE
KREMLIN COMES TO REALIZE THAT SUCH BIAS IS SIMPLY BAD BUSINESS
IN TERMS OF WORLD TRADE AND COMMERCE.
I AM CONFIDENT THAT A REPUBLICAN CONGRESS WOULD ENACT
SUCH AN AMENDMENT.
IT WOULD KEEP THE FAITH WITH THE SIX MILLION JEWS WHO
WHEN WE THINK
DIED DURING WORLD WAR II. WE GRIEVE THAT SOME OF THOSE BRUTAL
MURDERS COULD HAVE BEEN AVERTED BY MORE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BY
FREE PEOPLE OF OTHER LANDS AT THAT TIME. THANK YOU.
-END-
note
These are the only
Copies left. Stencils
are worn out
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
M Office Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M., WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 28 1968
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R.-MICH., BEFORE THE JEWISH MEN'S CLUB AT
EAST ROCKAWAY, N. Y.
Tonight I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on developments
in the Middle East.
While our Government has been preoccupied with events in the Far East, the
Soviet Union has turned the massive set-back of last June's Six-Day War into a
victory in terms of regional penetration.
The Administration has developed no definitive policy to meet the problems
of this region. There has been talk of "five points", and so forth, but mainly
we have drifted.
Tonight there is talk of United Nations sponsored peace talks. But the
details are obscure. I feel that the State of Israel would be well-advised to
retain territories presently occupied and not budge until such time as appropriate
mutual arrangements are made in face-to-face talks agreeable to both sides. Pre-
vious experiences with the United Nations would indicate the need for caution.
The fluctuations of United States policy are such that I frankly have been
unable to determine just what our wavering policy is. I think it is a non-policy.
It is so lacking in reality that it is like an Arabian desert mirage. The harder
one looks at 1t, the less one sees.
In terms of United States policy, we are looking at a vacuum in the Middle
East -- a very dangerous vacuum. The power and influence of the Soviet Union is
flowing into it.
Yet President Johnson did not even mention in his recent State of the Union
message that a new power structure, very hazardous to freedom, had developed dur-
ing the last year in the Middle East and Mediterranean. He did not call attention
to the dramatic and aggressive Russian moves in that region.
But the President used many words to explain and justify his position on
Vietnam. He has said many times that we are in Vietnam to draw a line against
Communist aggression.
I cannot understand how we are keeping faith with our brave men in Vietnam,
who are holding the line, when we are so mysteriously silent about the end run
the Russians are taking through the Middle East and into the Mediterranean!
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
More
- 2 -
The Soviet Union sought to exploit American preoccupation in Vietnam last
Spring by instigating and aiding the Arab move against Israel. Yet an authorized
spokesman for the Johnson Administration announced, when the outcome was in doubt,
that we were "neutral in thought, word and deed".
The heart-warming six-day victory achieved by Israel was the only reassur-
ing triumph of free men against Communism and aggression in a long time. But I
have yet to hear our President publicly voice gratification that Israel, a free
nation, has defeated aggression.
The Russians, of course, are using the radical Arab regimes by proxy just
as the Nazis used Spain in the 1930's -- to test their new weapons. And, more
important, to test the will of the democracies.
Let us recall that the first time in history a surface-to-surface missile
was used to sink a ship it was a Soviet "Styx" missile. The victim was an Israeli
destroyer.
The Soviet navy was operating in the area where an Israeli submarine mys-
teriously disappeared, suddenly and without trace, only a few weeks ago.
The Russians have embarked on a dangerous game in the Mediterranean and
Middle East. They are playing for high stakes. Britain has withdrawn from
commitments East of Suez. France has deserted NATO. The Kremlin 1s using the
Arabs to turn the Mediterranean into a Russian lake.
Last year there were a scant half-dozen Russian naval ships in the Medi-
terranean. Now there are about 50, almost on a par with the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
The Russians are moving to outflank NATO's land-based defenses. In the
north, the Russians made the Baltic a virtual Red Sea. Their warships in the
Baltic now outnumber NATO forces 5 to 1.
A massive Soviet naval program is under way. The Johnson Administration is
failing to keep pace. We just heard a warning from the Joint Congressional Com-
mittee on Atomic Energy that the United States might be "unable to counter the
rapidly increasing Soviet submarine threat" unless the Administration changes
its policies on construction of nuclear submarines. Admiral Hyman Rickover has
long been making this very point.
Indeed, the Russians already have 55 nuclear submarines to our 75 while
possessing 305 conventional submarines to our 80.
There are also the questions of deficiencies in Administration planning to
meet the new Mach 3 Soviet jet interceptor which flies over 1800 miles per hour.
More --
- 3 -
And now we hear that the Russians are rapidly closing the missile gap with
a mobile ICBM.
Russia has the world's fastest growing merchant fleet. Its tonnage will
surpass our own by the early 1970's. Sixty percent of U.S. naval warships are
25 years old or older. The Russian navy is sleek and modern.
The new challenge of Russian seapower and penetration of the Mediterranean
may haunt us long after we finish with Ho Chi Minh. Soviet ships and submarines
boldly shadow every unit of the Sixth Fleet. Now we learn that the Russian navy
is shadowing even Israeli merchant vessels.
The Russians have built two aircraft carriers, the "Moscow" and "Leningrad",
similar to our Iwo Jima-type carriers used off Vietnam. The Soviet aim is to
use such vessels for amphibious support in areas like the Middle East.
We know that Russia is moving a newly-formed marine landing force, called
the "black berets", into the Mediterranean. They are aboard special landing
craft that carry amphibious tanks.
Meanwhile, Arab terrorists are talking of themselves as the"Viet Cong of
of the Middle East." The Israelis could be hit along the cease-fire lines by
terrorists who retreat behind a privileged sanctuary if the Russians moved in
their aircraft carriers and amphibious forces as a screen to defend Arab terri-
tory.
The Soviet Union has made it very clear that she actually supports the
most militant Arabs. The Red Navy is operating out of the ports of Alexandria
and Port Said in Egypt; Latakia in Syria; and perhaps soon from Yemen and Aden
on the Red Sea, menacing the Indian Ocean; and from Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria,
within range of Gibraltar.
Is all this build-up solely to eradicate Israel? The objectives are far
greater. It is the dominance of the entire region and 60 per cent of world's
oil resources. It is the neutralization of Europe. It is the fate of Africa.
It is even the future of South America.
Already we see Russian gains. Three members of the Central Treaty
Organization -- Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan -- are pursuing closer relations
with Moscow. The Turks are building stronger economic ties with Russia. Iran
and Pakistan, which received much aid from the U.S. taxpayer, are buying Russian
arms. India is buying Soviet submarines.
The Russians have resupplied the Arabs with even more modern weapons than
those lost in the war last June. Soviet military officers are to be found advis-
More --
- 4 -
ing at every echelon of command in the Egyptian armed forces. Russian heavy
bombers, manned by Soviet Air Force crews, ha ve flown from Egyptian air bases.
The Chinese Communist radio braodcast from Peking in Arabic on February 18
that Arab terrorists were inspired by the Viet Cong. A spokesman for the Arab
terrorist group stated in Damascus that "our battles in the occupied territory
enjoy increasing support from the Arab masses there. We have thoroughly under-
stood Chairman Mao's teachings about the relations between the popular army and
the people, which are similar to the relations between the fish and the water."
A few days later, the Chairman of the Egyptian National Assembly, Anwar
Sadat, Nasser's right-hand man, cabled North Vietnam and North Korea of Arab
support in the "struggle against aggression" and expressed "solidarity in the
struggle against the racists."
Mr. Sadat was in Washington last year as a guest of the Administration.
The Arab press and radio also voiced hope that such persons as H. Rap Brownand
Stokely Carmichael provide American cities with a "Viet Cong" summer.
The official radio of Jordan broadcast a defense of Soviet naval operations
in the region. The Jordanians said this was merely a move to ddfend the Arabs
against Israel.
What was President Johnson's response to all this? The Administration an-
nounced that tahks, artillery, and even F-104 Starfighter supersanic jets were
being provided to Jordan. The Jordanian armed forces are still linked with a
unified Arab high command advised by Russian generals. The Arab terrorists,
known as the "El Fatah", operate from Jordanian territory frequently with the
assistance of the Jordanian army.
On the very day that the announcement of arms for Jordan was published in
Washington, the terrorist attacks from Jordan reached such intensity that Israeli
armed forces were forced to bomb bases of agression on the east bank of the river
that serves as the cease-fire line.
The Arab terrorists are already using Russian and Chinese machine-guns
and mines of types used in Vietnam. Now they will have heavy weapons -- financed,
no doubt, by our taxpayers.
The Administration maintained that supplying arms to Jordan was necessary
to maintain the throne of King Hussein. If he goes, they say, the extremists
might come. It seems to me that the extremists are already there.
The least that the Administration could have asked from Jordan in exchange
for the arms is that she make peace with Israel. That seems a reasonable enough
More --
- 5 -
condition. There is also the very real danger that arms shipped to the shaky
Hussein regime may end up in other thanks. It is like sending our F-104's
"to whom it may concern."
If the Soviet military experts need any of these arms for testing, to
perfect methods for destroying our forces in Vietnam, they need only apply to
their Arab friends.
I must note that President Johnson, while he has authorized supersonic
jet fighters for the Arabs, has agreed only to sell some subsonic Douglas
Skyhawks to Israel. The transaction with Israel was signed two years ago. The
planes are, for the greatest part, as yet undelivered. They are allowed to
trickle out, one by one. It will be 1969 before Israel gets all of them.
Israel meanwhile noted the Soviet escalation in the region against a
background of French cancellation of all supersonic jets ordered by the Israelis.
An application was made by Israel to buy 50 supersonic Phantom jets from
the United States to meet current needs because of the new situation. President
Johnson has deferred action. It has been hinted that the planes may be sold
next Autumn, at the time of the election.
Those Phantom jets should be on their way now. They are vital to Israel's
deterrent capacity. It takes time to train pilots, technicians, and mechanics
for such sophisticated equipment.
Can Israel's friends really believe the Johnson Administration's promises?
The 1964 plank on the Middle East in the Democratic Platform solemnly
promised to guard "against the dangers of a military imbalance resulting from
Soviet arms shipments". Is the Administration doing thi S by shipping U.S. arms
to some Arabs to balance the Russian arms received by other Arabs -- with all
the guns pointing against Israel?
Let me pause here to ask: Where is our national self-respect? The Egyptian
have burned down our consulates, spit on the American flag, abused U.S. citizens,
severed diplomatic relations, lied about our role in the six-day war, collabora-
ted with the Communists, praised North Korea for seizing the Pueblo, congratulated
the Viet Cong for the Tet offensive -- and yet the Administration still insists
that we buy Egyptian cotton.
Are we to impose a travel tax on Americans visiting, for instance, in
Israel -- but permit dollars to go to Egypt to support the Russian munitions
industry?
FORD
More --
NLOR
MBRARY
- 6 -
I have heard reports in Washington that the Administration is eager to
resume relations with Egypt in hopes of wooing Nasser by resuming aid to his
government.
We would do much better to spend such sums for the strengthening of the
Sixth Fleet.
If it is desirable to draw a line in Vietnam, why permit the Arab "Viet
Cong" to rampage across the cease-fire lines in the Middle East?
Why is President Johnson still training 25 Arab pilots, from Jordan, at
U.S. airbases in Texas? It is ironic that while Prime Minister Eshkol of Israel
was a guest at the LBJ Ranch, Arab pilots were flying over his head in Star-
fighter jets.
Let us now leave the Middle East to discuss a related and timely issue
involving the Soviet Union.
The conscience of the world was not aroused until too late when Nazi
genocide liquidated over six million Jewish people in Europe. Today we find
a cruel irony. Some of the survivors of Nazism, those who reside in the Soviet
Union, find themselves again subjected to discriminatory treatment because of
their religious faith.
The Government of the Soviet Union has embarked on a subtle campaign of
cultural genocide, to destroy the Jews as a people and Judaism as a religion.
I have heard that there are only four rabbis, all very elderly men, left in the
entire Soviet Union which has a Jewish population of over three million. This
is because Soviet authorities have liquidated Jewish education, religious
schools, seminaries, and so forth, to the extent that no new rabbis or relig-
ious teachers are being trained.
Jews in Russia are denied even the meager religious facilities permitted
non-Jewish minority groups. Pressures against the Jewish people have been in-
tensified following the defeat by Israel of the Russian-backed Arab aggression.
When the USSR severed diplomatic relations with Israel last June, all exit visas
for Jews were abruptly cancelled.
It should be a matter of deep concern to all humanity that the Russians
are scapegoating the Jews -- in effect, holding those innocent people hostages
for the behavior of the State of Israel.
A wave of propaganda, reminiscent of the Nazi era of cruel caricatures,
has flooded the state-controlled Soviet press.
More --
- 7 -
A number of the young Russian writers recently sent to jail for publishing
ideas challenging the totalitarian concept were Jewish.
Some of America's most eminent citizens are persons of Jewish faith who
still have relatives in Russia. There is a terrible anguish in realizing that
another generation of oppression and systematic cultural genocide may finally
liquidate the once-flourishing Russian Jewish community.
At times in the past, once when Taft was president and even as far back
as the presidency of General U.S. Grant, the United States Government used its
influence to ameliorate anti-Jewish pressures abroad. Our Government has ex-
pressed itself on the racial policies of the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia.
I do not understand why more cannot be done in Washington to let the rulers of
the Soviet Union know that the Government of the United States cares about what
happens to the Russians of Jewish faith.
Some say that it is all too easy for an opposition political party to
oppose policies of the Administration. In this instance I want very sincerely
to propose a policy to help Russian Jews. No such policy exists in the Johnson
Administration!
I believe that Russia is responsive, within certain limits, to the pres-
sure of world public opinion. I believe there are things that the Kremlin wants
from the United States. Last year the Russians were very eager for the agreement
to permit the Soviet airline, Aeroflot, to have landing rights at Kennedy Airport.
An agreement was made to exchange landing rights. The Russians remain extremely
anxious to expand East-West trade.
It seems to me that the time has come to take affirmative action to drama-
tize to the Russians that we mean business on the issue of their treatment of
minorities. When the next measure comes before the Congress involving East-West
trade or a similar appropriate bill, I will advocate an amendment, I hope with
bi-partisan support, to express the sense of the Congress that the Soviet Union
should display concern for American opinion in Soviet policies affecting the Jews.
Our Federal laws now require that all business concerns trading with the
Government treat employees on a non-discriminatory basis. I do not see why we
cannot make such a request of the foreign nations with which we trade, with
special reference to the Soviet Union. The notorious anti-religious policies of
the Soviet Union might be ameliorated if the Kremlin comes to realize that such
bias is simply bad business in terms of world trade and commerce.
More --
- 8 -
I am confident that a Republican Congress would enact such an amendment.
It would keep the faith with the six million Jews who died during World
War II. We grieve that some of those brutal murders could have been averted by
more affirmative action by free people of other lands at that time.
--- 000000--
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M., WEDNESDAY,
FEBRUARY 28. 1968
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R.-MICH., BEFORE THE JEWISH MEN'S CLUB AT
EAST ROCKAWAY, N. Y.
Tonight I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on developments
in the Middle East.
While our Government has been preoccupied with events in the Far East, the
Soviet Union has turned the massive set-back of last June's Six-Day War into a
victory in terms of regional penetration.
The Administration has developed no definitive policy to meet the problems
of this region. There has been talk of "five points", and so forth, but mainly
we have drifted.
Tonight there is talk of United Nations sponsored peace talks. But the
details are obscure. I feel that the State of Israel would be well-advised to
retain territories presently occupied and not budge until such time as appropriate
mutual arrangements are made in face-to-face talks agreeable to both sides. Pre-
vious experiences with the United Nations would indicate the need for caution.
The fluctuations of United States policy are such that I frankly have been
unable to determine just what our wavering policy is. I think it is a non-policy.
C
It is so lacking in reality that it is like an Arabian desert mirage, The harder
one looks at it, the less one sees.
In terms of United States policy, we are looking at a vacuum in the Middle
East -- a very dangerous vacuum. The power and influence of the Soviet Union is
flowing into it,
Yet President Johnson did not even mention in his recent State of the Union
message that a new power structure, very hazardous to freedom, had developed dur-
ing the last year in the Middle East and Mediterranean. He did not call attention
to the dramatic and aggressive Russian moves in that region.
But the President used many words to explain and justify his position on
Vietnam. He has said many times that we are in Vietnam to draw a line against
Communist aggression.
I cannot understand how we are keeping faith with our brave men in Vietnam,
who are holding the line, when we are so mysteriously silent about the end run
the Russians are taking through the Middle East and into the Mediterranean!
GERALO FORD LIBRARY
More --
- 2 -
The Soviet Union sought to exploit American preoccupation in Vietnam last
Spring by instigating and aiding the Arab move against Israel. Yet an authorized
spokesman for the Johnson Administration announced, when the outcome was in doubt,
that we were "neutral in thought, word and deed".
The heart-warming six-day victory achieved by Israel was the only reassur-
ing triumph of free men against Communism and aggression in a long time. But I
have yet to hear our President publicly voice gratification that Israel, a free
nation, has defeated aggression.
The Russians, of course, are using the radical Arab regimes by proxy just
as the Nazis used Spain in the 1930's -- to test their new weapons. And, more
important, to test the will of the democracies.
Let us recall that the first time in history a surface-to-surface missile
was used to sink a ship it was a Soviet "Styx" missile. The victim was an Israeli
destroyer.
The Soviet navy was operating in the area where an Israeli submarine mys-
teriously disappeared, suddenly and without trace, only a few weeks ago.
The Russians have embarked on a dangerous game in the Mediterranean and
Middle East. They are playing for high stakes. Britain has withdrawn from
commitments East of Suez. France has deserted NATO. The Kremlin is using the
Arabs to turn the Mediterranean into a Russian lake.
Last year there were a scant half-dozen Russian naval ships in the Medi-
terranean. Now there are about 50, almost on a par with the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
The Russians are moving to outflank NATO's land-based defenses. In the
north, the Russians made the Baltic a virtual Red Sea. Their warships in the
Baltic now outnumber NATO forces 5 to 1.
A massive Soviet naval program is under way. The Johnson Administration is
failing to keep pace. We just heard a warning from the Joint Congressional Com-
mittee on Atomic Energy that the United States might be "unable to counter the
rapidly increasing Soviet submarine threat" unless the Administration changes
its policies on construction of nuclear submarines. Admiral Hyman Rickover has
long been making this very point.
Indeed, the Russians already have 55 inuclear submarines to our 75 while
possessing 305 conventional submarines to our 80.
There are also the questions of deficiencies in Administration planning to
meet the new Mach 3 Soviet jet interceptor which flies over 1800 miles per hour.
More
- 3 -
And now we hear that the Russians are rapidly closing the missile gap with
a mobile ICBM.
Russia has the world's fastest growing merchant fleet. Its tonnage will
surpass our own by the early 1970's. Sixty percent of U.S. naval warships are
25 years old or older. The Russian navy is sleek and modern.
The new challenge of Russian seapower and penetration of the Mediterranean
may haunt us long after we finish with Ho Chi Minh. Soviet ships and submarines
boldly shadow every unit of the Sixth Fleet. Now we learn that the Russian navy
is shadowing even Israeli merchant vessels.
The Russians have built two aircraft carriers, the "Moscow" and "Leningrad",
similar to our Iwo Jima-type carriers used off Vietnam. The Soviet aim is to
use such vessels for amphibious support in areas like the Middle East.
We know that Russia is moving a newly-formed marine landing force, called
the "black berets", into the Mediterranean. They are aboard special landing
craft that carry amphibious tanks.
Meanwhile, Arab terrorists are talking of themselves as the 'Viet Cong of
of the Middle East." The Israelis could be hit along the cease-fire lines by
terrorists who retreat behind a privileged sanctuary if the Russians moved in
their aircraft carriers and amphibious forces as a screen to defend Arab terri-
tory.
The Soviet Union has made it very clear that she actually supports the
most militant Arabs. The Red Navy is operating out of the ports of Alexandria
and Port Said in Egypt; Latakia in Syria; and perhaps soon from Yemen and Aden
on the Red Sea, menacing the Indian Ocean; and from Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria,
within range of Gibraltar.
Is all this build-up solely to eradicate Israel? The objectives are far
greater. It is the dominance of the entire region and 60 per cent of world's
oil resources. It is the neutralization of Europe. It is the fate of Africa.
It is even the future of South America.
Already we see Russian gains. Three members of the Central Treaty
Organization -- Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan -- are pursuing closer relations
with Moscow. The Turks are building stronger economic ties with Russia. Iran
and Pakistan, which received much aid from the U.S. taxpayer, are buying Russian
arms. India is buying Soviet submarines.
The Russians have resupplied the Arabs with even more modern weapons than
those lost in the war last June. Soviet military officers are to be found advis-
More --
- 4 -
ing at every echelon of command in the Egyptian armed forces. Russian heavy
bombers, manned by Soviet Air Force crews, ha ve flown from Egyptian air bases.
The Chinese Communist radio braodcast from Peking in Arabic on February 18
that Arab terrorists were inspired by the Viet Cong. A spokesman for the Arab
terrorist group stated in Damascus that "our battles in the occupied territory
enjoy increasing support from the Arab masses there. We have thoroughly under-
stood Chairman Mao's teachings about the relations between the popular army and
the people, which are similar to the relations between the fish and the water."
A few days later, the Chairman of the Egyptian National Assembly, Anwar
Sadat, Nasser's right-hand man, cabled North Vietnam and North Korea of Arab
support in the "struggle against aggression" and expressed "solidarity in the
struggle against the racists."
Mr. Sadat was in Washington last year as a guest of the Administration.
The Arab press and radio also voiced hope that such persons as H. Rap Brownand
Stokely Carmichael provide American cities with a "Viet Cong" summer.
The official radio of Jordan broadcast a defense of Soviet naval operations
in the region. The Jordanians said this was merely a move to ddfend the Arabs
against Israel.
What was President Johnson's response to all this? The Administration an-
nounced that tahks, artillery, and even F-104 Starfighter supersanic jets were
being provided to Jordan. The Jordanian armed forces are still linked with a
unified Arab high command advised by Russian generals. The Arab terrorists,
known as the "El Fatah", operate from Jordanian territory frequently with the
assistance of the Jordanian army.
On the very day that the announcement of arms for Jordan was published in
Washington, the terrorist attacks from Jordan reached such intensity that Israeli
armed forces were forced to bomb bases of agression on the east bank of the river
that serves as the cease-fire line.
The Arab terrorists are already using Russian and Chinese machine-guns
and mines of types used in Vietnam. Now they will have heavy weapons -- financed,
no doubt, by our taxpayers.
The Administration maintained that supplying arms to Jordan was necessary
to maintain the throne of King Hussein. If he goes, they say, the extremists
might come. It seems to me that the extremists are already there.
The least that the Administration could have asked from Jordan in exchange
for the arms is that she make peace with Israel. That seems a reasonable enough
More --
- 5 -
condition. There is also the very real danger that arms shipped to the shaky
Hussein regime may end up in other thanks. It is like sending our F-104's
"to whom it may concern."
If the Soviet military experts need any of these arms for testing, to
perfect methods for destroying our forces in Vietnam, they need only apply to
their Arab friends.
I must note that President Johnson, while he has authorized supersonic
jet fighters for the Arabs, has agreed only to sell some subsonic Douglas
Skyhawks to Israel. The transaction with Israel was signed two years ago. The
planes are, for the greatest part, as yet undelivered. They are allowed to
trickle out, one by one. It will be 1969 before Israel gets all of them.
Israel meanwhile noted the Soviet escalation in the region against a
background of French cancellation of all supersonic jets ordered by the Israelis.
An application was made by Israel to buy 50 supersonic Phantom jets from
the United States to meet current needs because of the new situation. President
Johnson has deferred action. It has been hinted that the planes may be sold
next Autumn, at the time of the election.
Those Phantom jets should be on their way now. They are vital to Israel's
deterrent capacity. It takes time to train pilots, technicians, and mechanics
for such sophisticated equipment.
Can Israel's friends really believe the Johnson Administration's promises?
The 1964 plank on the Middle East in the Democratic Platform solemnly
promised to guard "against the dangers of a military imbalance resulting from
Soviet arms shipments". Is the Administration doing thi S by shipping U.S. arms
to some Arabs to balance the Russian arms received by other Arabs -- with all
the guns pointing against Israel?
Let me pause here to ask: Where is our national self-respect? The Egyptian:
have burned down our consulates, spit on the American flag, abused U.S. citizens,
severed diplomatic relations, lied about our role in the six-day war, collabora-
ted with the Communists, praised North Korea for seizing the Pueblo, congratulated
the Viet Cong for the Tet offensive -- and yet the Administration still insists
that we buy Egyptian cotton.
Are we to impose a travel tax on Americans visiting, for instance, in
Israel -- but permit dollars to go to Egypt to support the Russian munitions
industry?
More --
- 6 -
I have heard reports in Washington that the Administration is eager to
resume relations with Egypt in hopes of wooing Nasser by resuming aid to his
government.
We would do much better to spend such sums for the strengthening of the
Sixth Fleet.
If it is desirable to draw a line in Vietnam, why permit the Arab "Viet
Cong" to rampage across the cease-fire lines in the Middle East?
Why is President Johnson still training 25 Arab pilots, from Jordan, at
U.S. airbases in Texas? It is ironic that while Prime Minister Eshkol of Israe]
was a guest at the LBJ Ranch, Arab pilots were flying over his head in Star-
fighter jets.
Let us now leave the Middle East to discuss a related and timely issue
involving the Soviet Union.
The conscience of the world was not aroused until too late when Nazi
genocide liquidated over six million Jewish people in Europe. Today we find
a cruel irony. Some of the survivors of Nazism, those who reside in the Soviet
Union, find themselves again subjected to discriminatory treatment because of
their religious faith.
The Government of the Soviet Union has embarked on a subtle campaign of
cultural genocide, to destroy the Jews as a people and Judaism as a religion.
I have heard that there are only four rabbis, all very elderly men, left in the
entire Soviet Union which has a Jewish population of over three million. This
is because Soviet authorities have liquidated Jewish education, religious
schools, seminaries, and so forth, to the extent that no new rabbis or relig-
ious teachers are being trained.
Jews in Russia are denied even the meager religious facilities permitted
non-Jewish minority groups. Pressures against the Jewish people have been in-
tensified following the defeat by Israel of the Russian-backed Arab aggression.
When the USSR severed diplomatic relations with Israel last June, all exit visas
for Jews were abruptly cancelled.
It should be a matter of deep concern to all humanity that the Russians
are scapegoating the Jews -- in effect, holding those innocent people hostages
for the behavior of the State of Israel.
A wave of propaganda, reminiscent of the Nazi era of cruel caricatures,
has flooded the state-controlled Soviet press.
More --
- 7 -
A number of the young Russian writers recently sent to jail for publishing
ideas challenging the totalitarian concept were Jewish.
Some of America's most eminent citizens are persons of Jewish faith who
still have relatives in Russia. There is a terrible anguish in realizing that
another generation of oppression and systematic cultural genocide may finally
liquidate the once-flourishing Russian Jewish community.
At times in the past, once when Taft was president and even as far back
as the presidency of General U.S. Grant, the United States Government used its
influence to ameliorate anti-Jewish pressures abroad. Our Government has ex-
pressed itself on the racial policies of the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia.
I do not understand why more cannot be done in Washington to let the rulers of
the Soviet Union know that the Government of the United States cares about what
happens to the Russians of Jewish faith.
Some say that it is all too easy for an opposition political party to
oppose policies of the Administration. In this instance I want very sincerely
to propose a policy to help Russian Jews. No such policy exists in the Johnson
Administration!
I believe that Russia is responsive, within certain limits, to the pres-
sure of world public opinion. I believe there are things that the Kremlin wants
from the United States. Last year the Russians were very eager for the agreement
to permit the Soviet airline, Aeroflot, to have landing rights at Kennedy Airport.
An agreement was made to exchange landing rights. The Russians remain extremely
anxious to expand East-West trade.
It seems to me that the time has come to take affirmative action to drama-
tize to the Russians that we mean business on the issue of their treatment of
minorities. When the next measure comes before the Congress involving East-West
trade or a similar appropriate bill, I will advocate an amendment, I hope with
bi-partisan support, to express the sense of the Congress that the Soviet Union
should display concern for American opinion in Soviet policies affecting the Jews.
Our Federal laws now require that all business concerns trading with the
Government treat employees on a non-discriminatory basis. I do not see why we
cannot make such a request of the foreign nations with which we trade, with
special reference to the Soviet Union. The notorious anti-religious policies of
the Soviet Union might be ameliorated if the Kremlin comes to realize that such
bias is simply bad business in terms of world trade and commerce.
More --
- 8 -
I am confident that a Republican Congress would enact such an amendment.
It would keep the faith with the six million Jews who died during World
War II. We grieve that some of those brutal murders could have been averted by
more affirmative action by free people of other lands at that time.
-- o000000--