Barnstorming with Begin

Israel's stem leader rallies followers across the U.S.

So eagerly were hands outstretched and backs slapped, so boisterously were politicians crowded round, that it might have been a presidential candidate barnstorming the country. But the center of the commotion was Israeli Premier Menachem Begin, who toured the U.S. last week to highlight celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the founding of Israel (May 11). Though the eight-day trip had been planned six months in advance, it happened to come at a delicate moment in U.S.-Israeli relations: the U.S. Congress was embroiled in controversy over a complex, three-way airplane sale to the Middle East. Rarely in U.S. history had a foreign chief of government so unabashedly ventured out onto the hustings, as it were, to drum up support for his policies.

The Premier's arrival strongly reinforced the Israel lobby's campaign against the plane deal: 75 F-16s and 15 F-15s for Israel, 50 F-5Es for Egypt and 60 F-15s for Saudi Arabia. Israelis are adamantly opposed to the Saudi Arabian sale because they fear that the highly sophisticated F-15 fighters might be converted to bombers and used against them. The Carter Administration argues that the planes are essential for the defense of a pivotal Middle Eastern ally.

Testifying last week before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance warned that "failure to proceed with the sales will seriously undercut the American role in the peace process and raise grave doubts about U.S. readiness to work with moderate governments in the region." General David Jones, acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured the committee that the F-15s would be equipped for defense. Israel, he insisted, would be in greater danger if Saudi Arabia turned to France for Mirage Fl fighters, which are better suited for ground attack.

The Administration warnings had little effect on the Hill. Annoyed by a White House claim that a majority of members of the House International Relations Committee favored the sale, Democratic Congressman Dante Fascell, who represents a heavily Jewish district in Miami, drafted a resolution of disapproval and got a majority of committee members to sign it. Explained Fascell: "We had to demonstrate that there is a serious difference of opinion on this question, that it's not all over." After State Department officials huddled with Fascell and other committee members, the White House indicated that it would be willing to change the terms of the sale. The number of planes going to Israel might be increased, and the Saudis would have to pledge to use the planes they purchase only for defense.

While the issue was intensely debated behind the scenes, Begin made his public appeals on behalf of Israel. He avoided the details of the issues as best he could, making the trip largely ceremonial.

But he had an indisputably political purpose in his main goal of rallying people to the ancient cause, and in this he seemed quite successful.

Looking frail and drawn much of the time, he seemed dwarfed by his entourage, which included the ever-present cardiologist, a ring of Israeli security agents and swarms of U.S. Secret Service men and police who manned sniper posts, rode shotgun in helicopters and stood at alert on fireboats. Yet the Premier's presence transcended all such hindrances. There was an incantatory tone to his cadenced, ritualistic speeches; when he spread his arms with open palms, the gesture seemed almost papal.

Begin's trip got off to a cheerful start at the White House--in contrast to his chilly reception last March. He spent two hours with Vance, then half an hour with Carter. Afterward, in a ceremony on the White House lawn, the President pledged "total, absolute American commitment to Israel's security." In response, Begin called Carter's speech "one of the greatest moral statements ever." He acknowledged that no hard bargaining had been attempted. "The changes for the better are only in atmosphere," he said.

"But in my experience, atmosphere is quite important."

From Washington, he flew to Los Angeles aboard an Israeli Boeing 707 --dubbed by American reporters the Bagel One. On Tuesday evening he addressed a cheering crowd of 11,000, who had paid $2 each to hear him, in the Los Angeles Forum. As usual, he struck a historical theme: "After we suffered persecution, humiliation, discrimination, deportation, burning, drowning, ultimate physical destruction, we draw the only proper conclusion. We must fight for our liberty because if we do not, no one will give it to us." Once again he stated his conviction that a greater Israel is justified by the Bible and that the nation can never return to its pre-1967 borders. Nor would Israel ever tolerate a Palestinian state ruled by a "bloodthirsty enemy who kills women and children and enjoys and promises to continue it." He did offer one small joke: "I have sensational news for you. I spent the whole day in Washington and nobody asked me to resign."

Whenever Jimmy Carter's name was mentioned, the crowd booed lustily, but California Governor Jerry Brown, a prospective Carter rival in 1980, was wildly cheered when he embraced Begin and said that he was "trying to send a message that peace will not come from making concessions before you even sit down at the bargaining table." Not even Begin's cardiologist stayed closer to him than Brown, who showed up the morning after the rally to escort the Premier around Los Angeles. Noted a Begin aide: "We were expecting a party of four and he came with ten, and half of them were campaign workers."

In Chicago the next day, Jewish leaders presented Begin with checks for Israel totaling $10 million. Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic made him an honorary citizen of Chicago, and Illinois Governor Jim Thompson made him an honorary citizen of the state. Northwestern University awarded him an honorary doctor of laws degree. At the ceremony, Governor Thompson echoed President Kennedy by saying: "May you never fear to negotiate, but may you never negotiate out of fear."

At Northwestern, Begin ran into one of the few hostile demonstrations of the trip. Some 700 Palestinian sympathizers, composed of Arab, Iranian and Indian as well as American students, carried placards proclaiming ISRAELI BONDS BUY BOMBS. Earlier the student body had voted 1,199 to 907 against giving the degree to Begin because, by bestowing it, the university seemed to be taking sides in the Middle East dispute.

Begin's last stop was a four-day visit to New York. An overflow crowd greeted him at an Israeli Bonds luncheon, where individual pledges of $25,000 to $50,000 were made and a total contribution of $20 million was promised. At Yeshiva University he received another honorary degree. Jack Weiler, an Israeli Bonds national treasurer, told Begin: "Israel needs p.r. desperately, and you're doing beautifully."

Begin ran into a frostier reception, however, at a dinner for 1,800 given by the business-oriented Economic Club of New York. He faced a barrage of questions. Why were the illegal settlements on the West Bank so important that they were blocking all progress toward peace? Why must Israel's security be equated with more territory? Given Israel's commitment to democracy and liberty, how can it refuse these same rights to the Palestinian Arabs? Former Under Secretary of State George Ball denounced Israeli opposition to the Middle East plane sale and concluded, "So I will testify tomorrow before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee." Begin shot back, "You have already testified here tonight."

Despite Begin's public intransigence, there seemed to be some slight give in his position in private. In a recent meeting with Vance in Washington, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan expressed a willingness to "reinterpret" Begin's earlier proposal for Palestinian self-rule under Israeli auspices on the West Bank.

That arrangement could be considered a "transitional plan," Dayan indicated, and at the end of five years the basic question of sovereignty could be open for negotiation. Following his successful tour of the U.S., Begin may feel he is in a better position to bend a little on negotiations, even enough to get them started again.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.