Good Ol’ Ally

By John Law

The idea that Israel has traditionally been a faithful Middle East ally of the United States continues to be regarded as holy writ by the mainstream of media journalists, even as they acknowledge the existence of Israeli foot-dragging over US "peace proposals. " But one of them, A.M. Rosenthal, in The New York Times of July 23, raised his own adulatory perceptions of Israel to a new level when he urged Israel to accept Secretary Baker's proposals for direct Israeli-Arab negotiations. "To refuse outright," Rosenthal wrote, "would wither something Israel has cherished that is almost unknown in the Mideast: trust in its word. "

Yeah, sure, Abe. But gimme a minute just to think whether you might've forgotten something. Lessee. Now I remember. It was Israel which in 1953 firebombed US Information Service offices in Cairo and Alexandria, in the hope as the Israeli government itself had to acknowledge afterwards that the US would think the Egyptians did it. In 1956, it plotted secretly with the British and French to attack Suez, without telling Washington. In the 1960s, it built atomic bombs in Dimona, after having told the US it was just producing textiles, and after it had stolen some enriched uranium from a US facility in Pennsylvania. During the "Six Day War" of 1967, our friend and ally sent aircraft and patrol boats to attack an American naval vessel, the USS Liberty, in international waters off the coast of Israel killing 34 American crewmen and wounding 171.

A classic case, of course, was Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, when it ignored a personal plea from President Reagan to lift the siege of West Beirut to allow the entry of water and medicines; defied the administration's urgings to halt the massive bombing and rocketing of the densely populated city; violated its written agreements with the US not to use US supplied cluster bombs; and broke its word to US negotiator Philip Habib not to occupy West Beirut after the Palestinian guerrillas had been evacuated.

In a whole series of incidents after that war, troops of this faithful ally made life difficult for the American Marine "peacekeeping" contingent by taunting them, nudging them with their vehicles, and confronting them with their tanks leading the commanding general of the US Marine Corps to complain that it was "inconceivable to me why Americans serving in peacekeeping roles must be harassed, endangered and degraded by an ally. "

Later, Israel produced a spy in the Pentagon, American Jonathan Pollard, and when he was caught reacted by promoting his Israeli "control officer" to higher rank; kept urging the Reagan administration, whenever US enthusiasm waned, to continue selling arms to Ayatollah Khomeini; successfully smuggled krytrons (nuclear triggers) from the US to Israel; and turned down all administration "peace initiatives," from the "Reagan Plan" of 1982 to the "Baker Plan" of 1990.

Now, on top of all of this, Abe - Abe? Why should he leave when I'm just getting started?

Mosts

Most Unbridled Optimism. Robert MacNeil, with a reputation for sober appraisal, told viewers of the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour" on July 22 that "prospects for peace in the Middle East have skyrocketed. " Not just prospects for a "peace conference, " mind you but prospects for "peace. " One wonders what kind of rocket MacNeil had in mind one capable of reaching Mars, or just a Roman candle?

Most Prominent Sloppy Photo Caption. Under a large color photo on page one of the July 18 Christian Science Monitor, showing Palestinian children at play in the West Bank, was the caption: "Israel wants a $10 million loan from the US to house Jewish immigrants in the occupied territories. . . . " The correct sum, of course, is not $10 million but $10 billion. And it won't be a loan, but a loan guarantee (which may end up costing the US more than a loan). Furthermore, Israel has promised the US that it will not use the money to finance housing in the West Bank. It may well, of course, renege on this promise in the future but that's another story.

Most Prominent Sloppy Lead Paragraph. The first paragraph of the major front page story of the July 10 New York Times (the story that Times editors consider the most important is always the one farthest to the right of the page, at the top), written by William E. Schmidt and datelined London, told readers: "With hopes for the release of Western hostages in Lebanon clouded by the kidnapping of a French medical worker, Israel came under pressure today to help break the stalemate by unilaterally freeing Arab and Lebanese prisoners. "

Arab and Lebanese? This presumably unintended suggestion that Lebanese are not Arabs (although there are, indeed, some members of a Lebanese religious minority who actually claim they are not) appears to have slipped by the paper's top editor, who normally gets involved with the day's front page stories, and the slew of other editors and copyreaders who screen the stories before publication.

Israel defied the administration, violated its written agreements and broke its word.

Most Downplayed Story. In The New York Times of July 18, in a small item, less than three inches long, on page seven, there was a Jerusalem datelined story about seven people who had been killed in Lebanon three Israeli soldiers and four Lebanese Shi'i guerrillas. The Israelis had been ambushed while "on a mission" in central Lebanon, far beyond the so-called "security zone" in Lebanon controlled by Israel. The Lebanese were killed in an Israeli air attack, also carried out beyond the "zone, " in retaliation for the ambush.

This story is typical of the coverage given to one of the most blatant, illegal land grabs in the Middle East. It is outrageous enough that Israel has gotten away with establishing, unilaterally, its own "security zone" in a sovereign neighboring country (despite a 13 year old unanimous Security Council resolution ordering Israel to leave), but worse that it also gets away with carrying out frequent land, sea and air attacks in areas of Lebanon outside the zone. Such accounts generally aren't used at all, or are tucked away almost out of sight. It may be a case of "familiarity breeds contempt," which is no more or less than an absence of perspective. For a serious newspaper, however, perspective should be near the top of its list of priorities.

John Law, founding and chief editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs from 1982 to 1984, was for 22 years the chief Middle East correspondent for US News and World Report.