When Presidents Make Promises

 

By

 

Gidon D. Remba

 

The New York Times

October 27, 1981, Tuesday, Late City Final Edition
Section A; Page 30, Column 5; Editorial Desk
240 words

To the Editor:

William Safire has laid bare the speciousness of the Administration's argument that the Senate should approve the Awacs sale lest the world ''perceive'' a veto, however falsely, as due to inordinate Israeli influence on Congress (column Oct. 8). He should also have noted that this reasoning can equally be used to undermine some of the Administration's own claims in support of the sale.

 
The President contends, for example, that Saudi possession of the planes will not threaten Israel's security, that it will promote negotiations over Mideast peace and have a stabilizing effect on the region. Yet the Israeli public and leadership will, however wrongly, ''perceive'' the balance of forces as having tipped further in the Arabs' favor (air superiority being a crucial factor in the equation). Feeling less rather than more secure, the Jewish state will show a greater reluctance to take the risks necessary for a full peace. And an uneasy electorate will likely favor retaining the more uncompromising parties in power.

One can only imagine how much graver will be the damage to the peace process if the Israeli perception of the Awacs danger - unlike the perception of undue Israeli influence on Capitol Hill - is justified.

 

GIDON D. REMBA, Chicago, Oct. 12, 1981

 

Copyright 1981 The New York Times Company