Senators James Abourezk (D.S.D.) and Mark Hatfield. (R. Ore.) urged today that the United States back off from its strong support for Israel. Their speeches in the Senate came as the UN Security Council was engaged with charges brought against Israel for its raid on Beirut against Arab terrorists. Abourezk, a House member before entering the Senate last Jan. said, “We should take the lead in reducing both tensions and arms shipments to ensure that the Middle East focus is on the conference table rather than on the battlefield.”
Hatfield, a long-time opponent of aid to Israel, said “It is certainly something that is out of hand now when governments assign people to assassinate, when terrorist organizations can operate in every part of the world. These are crimes.” He added that any Middle East settlement “must include Palestine” and that U.S. policy must. include Palestine” and that U.S. policy must “not be pro-Arab or pro-Israel but pro-peace, pro-humanitarianism.”
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