February 1993, Page 49

Myths and Facts

(In refuting myths about the Middle East, sometimes one doesn't have to look beyond the media that help perpetuate them.)

Is Israel a Strategic Asset?

Myth: "Much of the news is generated by the State Department. Its daily briefings frequently focus on the Middle East and have been characterized in the last three years by one-sided criticism of Israel. Because diplomacy takes center stage and U.S.-Israel tensions make good copy, little attention has been paid to the positive aspects of the relationship. One area that continues to flourish is strategic cooperation...While critics of Israel have exultantly proclaimed Israel's strategic value to have eroded with the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon views the Jewish state's role differently."

—Then-editor Mitchell G. Bard, Near East Report (AIPAC-affiliated weekly), Jan. 13, 1992

Fact: "The truth is that even during the Cold War, Israel was more of a strategic liability than an asset to the U. S. Our very presence in the Middle East enabled the Soviet Union to penetrate the region through its support of Israel's enemies, while on many occasions the Israeli government chose to act in a manner that ran counter to what the Americans perceived as their basic interests. This was hardly the performance of an 'asset.' The myth of 'asset' was propagated by Israel and her U.S. supporters in order to justify the massive financial support she enjoyed annually from Washington."

—Israeli military correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai, Yediot Ahronot (Israeli daily), Tel Aviv, Oct. 21, 1992

Did the Bush Administration Encourage Saddam Hussain's Invasion of Kuwait?

Myth: "There exists the possibility that the U.S. government and Kuwait conspired to induce Iraq to invade Kuwait to provide an excuse for war. If this is so, then President Bush deserves impeachment."

—Columnist Charley Reese, Orlando (FL) Sentinel, April 14, 1992

Myth: ''[There is] overwhelming evidence now that he [Bush] tried to please and appease Saddam Hussain long after the dictator had showed his true, evil colors.''

—Columnist Leslie H. Gelb, The New York Times, March 27, 1992

Fact: "U.S. policy did not mislead Iraq. Primarily, Saddam Hussain miscalculated not American but Arab reaction. He understood for months that the U.S., free of Soviet constraints, would counter his aggression. He had said, 'There is no place in our midst for those who fail to take note of recent developments that have added to U.S. strength, thus prompting it to the possible commission of follies against the interests and national security of the Arabs' . . . In contrast to the election year charges of appeasement, an Iraqi newspaper wrote in the summer of 1990 that the U.S. was 'launching an unjust campaign against lofty Iraq' . . . Had the U.S. pursued a more aggressive strategy toward Iraq before the invasion, it would have had a tough time rallying support for its efforts in the Gulf."

—Cornell University Prof. Shibley Telhami, former member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N., The New York Times, June 29, 1992

Is Israeli Prime Minister Yitzshak Rabin Seriously Seeking Peace with Syria?

Myth: "I am unwilling to give up a single inch of Israel's security, but I am willing to give up many inches of. . .territory— as well as 1,700,000 Arab inhabitants— for the sake of peace. That is the whole doctrine in a nutshell. We seek a territorial compromise which will bring peace and security."

—Labor candidate Yitzhak Rabin, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, June 1, 1992

Myth: "I have never accepted the principle that we can negotiate peace for nothing; therefore I always supported the idea of territorial compromise."

—Candidate Yitzhak Rabin, reported by Reuters, March 3, 1992

Fact: "We must not make the smallest compromise on border issues and at the same time we must preserve our relations with the United States."

—Candidate Yitzhak Rabin, April 9, 1992, reported in Near East Report, June 29, 1992

Fact: ''Jerusalem, the confrontation lines, the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights, have to remain under our control."

—Candidate Yitzhak Rabin, reported by Reuters, June 6, 1992

Fact: "[Israeli] withdrawal from the Golan Heights is a precondition for peace.''

—Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Yehuda Blum, speaking in Cleveland, OH, Sept. 16, 1992, as reported in the Cleveland Jewish News, Sept. 25, 1992

Fact: "Even in peace we will not come down from the Golan Heights. In my eyes, the Golan Heights from the standpoint of territory and topography is vital to the security of Israel. That doesn't mean we are stuck there on every centimeter."

—Candidate Yitzhak Rabin, Al Hamishmar, June 5, 1992

Who Started the Six-Day War of June 1967?

Myth: "In 1967, the Arab countries initiated—and lost—yet another war against Israel. This time they lost the West Bank, Gaza and the whole of the Sinai Peninsula."

—Regional chairwoman of the Jewish Federation's Israel Overseas Committee Louise Stoll, who also is a member of the Anti-Defamation League Middle East Committee, Portland Oregonian. June 13, 1991

Fact: "I do not think Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent to Sinai in May [1967] would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it.''

—Gen. Yitzhak Rabin (Israeli chief of staff in 1967), Le Monde, Paris, Feb. 2, 1968

Fact: "In June 1967 we again had achoice. The Egyptian army concentration in the Sinai approaches did not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. Wemust be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him."Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (in public address), Aug. 8, 1982

Fact: "The thesis . . . that Israel was fighting for its physical existence. . . was born and developed after the war . . . By falsifying the causes of the war [the Israeli government] is trying to get the Israeli people to accept the principle of. . . annexation of territories.''

—Israeli Knesset Member Gen. Matityahu Peled, Ha'aretz, March 19, 1972