Israel Thanks the Senators

Israel expressed thanks and appreciation today to the 76 American Senators who publicly urged President Ford to provide military and political support for Israel. The Foreign Ministry spokesman here said the Senators’ letter was “a clear and unequivocal expression of the deep friendship which the American people and government feels towards Israel and of the sincere concern which they feel for the peace and security of Israel.”

(As of this morning 76 Senators had signed the letter, See separate story P. S on reaction from the White House and Senators’ press conference in Washington.)

The Foreign Ministry statement said the Senators’ letter was “especially significant” in view of current events in the international arenas and more especially in the Middle East. This reference was seen here as a deft and veiled hint at the recent failure of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s shuttling mediation effort for which the Ford Administration had sought to blame Israel.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman, speaking in the name of “the government and citizens of Israel,” added that the Senators’ statement had shown clearly that the effort to isolate Israel and drive a wedge between her and the American people and government had not succeeded. The Senators’ letter, the spokesman continued, would do much to contribute to strengthening “those factors in the Mideast which are striving for peace.”

Officials in the Rabin government said privately they saw the Senators’ letter as going a long way to vindicate Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s policy in the face of its many critics, They did not hide their hope that the letter would have its affect on the current American Mideast policy “reassessment.”