Ambassador Samuel Lewis told Israelis over the weekend that the U.S. has decided to decline the offers of both Israel and Egypt for the use of military bases on their territory but did not rule out military cooperation with either country in the future if the situation calls for it.
The American envoy, interviewed on television last Friday, also explained that U.S. military cooperation with Israel at this time might hinder rather than help Washington’s efforts to mobilize as much support as possible from the moderate countries of the Islamic world.
“At the present stage it is clear that American credibility with many of the moderate Islamic states would be less than enhanced by overt military cooperation with Israel than it would be perhaps by military assistance and services in Egypt,” Lewis said. “But I don’t think we have ruled anything out for the future if the threat requires. Things may change,” be added.
Commenting on the use of an Egyptian air base by American aircraft, Lewis said this was for training purposes and nothing else. He spoke of the Soviet threat in the region but said he was not sure whether the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan will have a direct impact on U.S. Israeli relation.
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