Final_Judgment

[42] Final Judgment 103
political attacks such a visit would bring from voters more sympathetic to
Israel." 86
(Unfortunately, however, as noted by Richard Curtiss, "As with most good
intentions deferred, the invitation to Nasser for a personal meeting with
Kennedy was never issued." 87 )
Thus, it was that upon assuming office, Kennedy made positive
attempts to contact Arab heads of state asking how the U.S. could help each
country in its individual disputes with Israel.
STANDING BY TRADITION
However, Kennedy wanted one thing in particular understood by all sides
in the conflict: the new U.S. president wanted "to make it crystal clear that the
U.S. meant what it said in the Tripartite Declaration of 1950—that we will
act promptly and decisively against any nation in the Middle East which
attacks its neighbor." 88 This policy was directed not only to the Arabs, but
Israel as well. Kennedy did indeed mean business.
ISRAEL'S LOBBY REACTS
Soon after Kennedy assumed office, Israel and its American lobby began to
understand the import of Kennedy's positioning in regard to the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Israel was not happy—to say the very least—and began putting
heat on the White House through the egis of its supporters in Congress,
many of whom relied upon support from the Israeli lobby for campaign
contributions and political leverage.
According to America's most noted longtime Jewish critic of Israel, Dr.
Alfred Lilienthal: "While the President, more often through Vice President
Lyndon Johnson, gave much lip service to Israelist aspirations, his
administration continued to resist pressures, including a round-robin petition
signed by 226 Congressmen of both parties (aided by a large New York
Times advertisement on May 28, 1962) to initiate direct Arab-Israeli
negotiations. Kennedy had decided to shelve his pledge in the Democratic
platform to bring Israeli and Arab leaders together around a peace table in
order to settle the Palestine question." 89
ALGERIA, AGAIN
It was mid-way into Kennedy's presidency that he had the satisfaction of
seeing French President Charles DeGaulle grant independence to Algeria—
something, of course, as we saw in Chapter 4 that was not looked favorably upon
by Israel and its American lobby.
Five years and one day after Kennedy's Senate speech calling for
Algerian independence, Algeria became a sovereign state on July 3, 1962.
According to former diplomat Richard Curtiss, "Algeria's [revolutionary]
leaders had not forgotten the American senator who had championed their
cause and they publicly hailed his election." 90