August 17, 1992 PRESIDENT BUSH: PROMOTING THE U.S.-ISRAELI PARTNERSHIP UNDER PRESIDENT BUS

August 17, 1992         


     PRESIDENT BUSH: PROMOTING THE U.S.-ISRAELI PARTNERSHIP


UNDER PRESIDENT BUSH, AMERICA'S TRADITIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH ISRAEL
HAS REACHED A NEW STAGE OF DEEPER AND INTENSIFIED COLLABORATION
DEMONSTRATED BY: PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN'S SUCCESSFUL TALKS
WITH THE PRESIDENT, THE STRONGLY PRO-ISRAEL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM,
AND THE IMPRESSIVE FOUR-YEAR BUSH RECORD OF STRONG SUPPORT FOR OUR
ISRAELI ALLY.

o    The Bush-Rabin summit in Kennebunkport on August 10-11
     solidified the U.S.-Israeli strategic partnership:  It
     produced an accord providing $10 billion in U.S. loan
     guarantees to facilitate Israeli absorption of immigrants, and
     a joint commitment to work together closely in the historic
     Middle East peacemaking process that has begun.

     --  President Bush declared:  "This is a relationship based on

         a shared commitment to democracy and to common values, as
         well as the solid commitment to Israel's security,
         including its qualitative military edge.  This is a
         special relationship.  It is one that is built to endure."

     --  Prime Minister Rabin responded: "Mr. President, we ...
         have supported since the beginning of the Gulf crisis the
         U.S. and your policy against Saddam Hussein's brutal
         aggression.  The strong approach taken by the United
         States during the war greatly contributed to the regional
         sense of security and made a positive contribution to
         Israel's security as well."

     --  President Bush said the two countries shared the goal of 
         "real peace" between Israel and the Arabs, "codified by
         treaties, characterized by reconciliation and openness,
         including trade and tourism."

o    The 1992 Republican Platform is a powerful statement of
     American support for Israel as a key ally and strategic
     partner: The Platform praises Israel as the only true
     democracy in the Middle East and elaborates on its strategic
     importance to America's interests.

     --  It calls for large-scale security assistance to Israel and
         renews the pledge to maintain Israel's qualitative
         military edge.  The Democratic Platform does not.   

     --  It insists on Israel's right to exist within secure and
         recognized borders and supports Israel's goal of true
         peace and reconciliation with its neighbors.  It calls for
         an end to the Arab boycott of Israel.  The Democratic
         platform does neither.

     --  It pledges that the U.S. will be an honest broker in the
         peacemaking process and will not impose solutions.

     --  It pledges that the U.S. will oppose an independent     
         Palestinian state or any entity that will jeopardize     
         Israel's security.  It opposes any U.S. dialogue with the 
         PLO until President Bush's stiff conditions are met.  The
         Democratic platform does none of these things.

     --  It promises that Jerusalem must remain undivided and    
         declares that no genuine peace would deny Jews the right
         to live anywhere in this "special city."

     --  It declares freedom of emigration to be a fundamental
         human right and affirms the right of Jews to resettle in
         Israel.

     --  It pledges that the U.S. will withdraw from any U.N. body
         that denies Israel's right to participate.  The Democratic

         platform does not.

o    The Bush record over four years has brought U.S.-Israeli     
     relations to a new high:  U.S. assistance to Israel has been
     crucial in the political, economic, and security dimensions.

     --  President Bush's courage and decisiveness in the defeat of
         Iraqi aggression ended the possibility that Saddam Hussein
         could use nuclear weapons against his enemies -- with
         Israel at the top of his target list.

     --  The President's diplomacy has produced an historic
         peacemaking process in which Israel is meeting, for the
         first time, in face-to-face, continuing negotiations with
         all its neighbors and multilaterally with all Arab nations
         (except Iraq and Libya).

     --  The President suspended the U.S. dialogue with the PLO
         because of its failure to disavow terrorism.  The PLO's
         support for Saddam has reinforced the Administration's
         resolve.

     --  The Bush Administration has urged the Palestinians and
         other Arabs to negotiate seriously with Israel, to take
         account of Israel's security needs, and to respond in a
         forthcoming way to Israel's new positions.

     --  The President's leadership obtained the repeal in December
         1991 of the notorious 1975 UN General Assembly resolution
         that equated Zionism with racism.
     
     --  After the historic May 1991 airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian  
         Jews to Israel, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir declared
         that the rescue "could not have taken place without the
         full, devoted help of the United States."

     --  In April 1992, after repeated U.S. urging, Syria lifted  
         travel restrictions on its 4,500-member Jewish community.

     --  In each of the past four years, the Bush Administration
         has furnished $3 billion to Israel in economic and
         military assistance, as well as additional benefits such
         as early disbursement of assistance.

     --  Under the aegis of the U.S.-Israeli Joint Economic
         Development Group, cooperation is growing in fields such
         as science and technology, health, labor, agriculture,
         environmental protection, and the war against drugs.

     --  In March 1991, the U.S. agreed to an additional $650     
         million in emergency assistance to help cover the military
         and civil defense costs to Israel resulting from the Gulf
         War.

     --  The President has proposed a new, modern, and global
         system of strategic missile defense, which would help
         protect the United States and its allies -- like Israel --
         against missile attack.  The Democrats have sought to cut
         its funding.

     --  The U.S. is funding 78% of Phase II of the joint U.S.-
         Israeli "Arrow" anti-tactical-ballistic-missile
         development project.  In dollar terms, Israel has been the
         largest foreign participant in our Strategic Defense
         Initiative program.

     --  During the Gulf War, the President sent several batteries
         of "Patriot" anti-missile missiles and 12 F-15/A aircraft
         from Europe, and sent U.S. Army units to help operate the
         missiles.

     --  U.S.-Israeli strategic cooperation now embraces over 300 
         joint programs in defense research and development, valued
         at over $2.9 billion.  The Pentagon purchased $360 million
         in Israeli military goods in 1991 alone.

     --  The Pentagon has prepositioned approximately $300 million 
         worth of military equipment in Israel, and the U.S. and
         Israel continue to conduct joint exercises under
         the aegis of the Joint Political-Military Commission.