Washington Report, July 9, 1984, Page 6

Facts For Your Files: A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations

June 18:

Kuwait's foreign minister, Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, sought to reassure the U.S. that Stinger anti-aircraft missiles it is seeking to buy from the U.S. would not be used against Israel. "Some people think we want the Stingers in order to fight Israel," Mr. Sabah said, "but we want (to use) them only in self-defense." On May 31 an Administration official said that the U.S. had no plans to sell the missiles to Kuwait, and publicly, suggested that the Kuwaitis look elsewhere for such weapons.

June 20:

The State Department announced that Saudi Arabia has been sharing with Kuwait surveillance data collected by U.S.-operated AWACS radar planes on patrol over Saudi Arabia. A department statement said the data-sharing has been "limited to occasions when there is a clear and immediate threat of possible penetration of Kuwaiti airspace" by Iranian planes. The statement added that the U.S. was considering ways to "formalize the current ad hoc arrangement."

June 20:

The U.S. and Israel held a joint exercise to practice the evacuation of wounded American servicemen from U.S. ships in the Mediterranean Sea to hospitals within Israel. It was the first exercise of its kind ever held between the two countries, which agreed last November in Washington to increase military and economic cooperation.

June 21:

The 15-member committee drafting the Democratic Party's 1984 election platform voted 13-2 against a proposal which would have put the Democrats on record as favoring "an independent state for Palestinians" and opposing legislation to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The proposal was sponsored by presidential aspirant Jesse Jackson and was presented to the committee by Walter Fauntroy, a Jackson delegate and representative to the U.S. Congress from the District of Columbia.

June 24:

A West Bank Palestinian journalist, scheduled to tour the U.S. this summer under the sponsorship of the U.S. Information Agency, was placed under town arrest by Israeli military authorities and prevented from making the trip. Radwan Abu Ayyash, editor of Palestine Press Service in East Jerusalem, was invited by U.S.I.A. for a period of one month to study and write on the American presidential campaign. Israeli authorities, citing "security reasons," ordered him not to leave his home town of Ramallah in the West Bank for six months.

June 27:

The Defense Department notified Congress that it plans to sell Kuwait a missile-control system for its Hawk antiaircraft missiles, as well as other equipment, at a total cost of $82 million. The Reagan Administration had informed Kuwait about one week earlier that the U.S. could not sell it the Stinger missiles it had previously requested because of political opposition to the sale in Congress, according to State Department officials.

July 2:

The State Department refused to characterize Israel's seizure June 29 of a Lebanon-bound passenger ship in international waters as an act of "kidnapping," when questioned by reporters. "Obviously each case is different and must be viewed in light of the circumstances," said department spokesman Alan Romberg. But, he added, "as a general matter and general principle, we support freedom of navigation in international waters."

SIDEBAR

Carter, Ford: "Don't Move the Embassy"

The following excerpts are from letters by former Presidents Carter and Ford to the House Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, in opposition to proposed legislation to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The letters were dated June 6 and June 19, 1984, respectively.

Carter:

In my opinion, such a decision by our country (to move the embassy) would be a devastating blow to the prospects for further progress toward peace in the region, would seriously damage relations between the United States and all Arab countries, and would be counter to the best interests of Israel.

The final status of an undivided Jerusalem must eventually be resolved through negotiation. Although few Israelis would be willing to relinquish control of East Jerusalem, they know that an element of neutrality in the United States is a prerequisite to further peace talks and that moving our embassy to Jerusalem would, in effect, eliminate our country from its crucial role as peacemaker.

Ford:

The status of Jerusalem is one such issue that lies at the heart of the problems of the Middle East. The position of the United States consistently has been that the final status of Jerusalem should be determined through negotiations in the context of a general peace settlement. In the meantime, the U.S. has refused to recognize the unilateral claim of any party to sovereignty over Jerusalem. The long standing location of our Embassy in Tel Aviv and the independence of our Consulate General in Jerusalem reflect this position. Changing the arrangements concerning these two posts would be perceived as an abandonment of America's past policies toward Jerusalem, and our efforts to encourage other states in the region to participate in U.S.-sponsored peace efforts would suffer. Arab states willing to support the peace process would find it increasingly difficult to do so.

A legislative mandate by the Congress requiring that our Embassy to Israel be moved to Jerusalem, or that the American Consulate General in Jerusalem be made subordinate to the Embassy in Tel Aviv, would damage our relations with the Arab states and handicap U.S. efforts to move the Middle East peace process forward. Any roadblock to the overall peace process will prolong the isolation of Israel from its neighbors.