Final_Judgment

126 The Coming of the Messiah [65]
In fact, as the record shows, Johnson had a long and close relationship
with Israel and its partisans. Israel knew that it had a loyal devotee of its
interests in the White House now that John F. Kennedy was out of the way.
A LONG-TIME FAVORITE OF ISRAEL
Israel, of course, had been keeping a close watch on Lyndon Johnson
for a long time. About Johnson, Israeli intelligence man Evron said as
follows: "Johnson's feeling about Israel came out very early in the [Suez]
crisis in 1957 when he was [Senate] majority leader. When at that time
President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles wanted to force us to
withdraw from Sinai, they threatened us with economic sanctions. Johnson
persuaded Senator William Knowland of California, who was then minority
leader, to come with him to the White House and tell the President that it
just wouldn't do." 179
The Arab States were also watching Johnson closely, particularly after
he assumed the presidency. Particularly concerned was Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser with whom JFK had hoped to build bridges. In fact, as
we have seen, it was during his last White House press conference that JFK
bemoaned the efforts by Israel and its partisans to sabotage his Middle East
peace initiatives, especially in regard to relations with Nasser.
THE CHANGE IN POLICY BEGINS
According to author Stephen Green, as early as March 5, 1964 Nasser
told Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Phillips Talbot that "The U.S. had
shifted its policy into more active support of Israel." 180
This was just little more than three months after John F. Kennedy had
been assassinated and Lyndon B. Johnson was catapulted into the presidency.
Nasser's assessment was on target. According to intelligence historian
Richard Deacon, Johnson's new policy was keeping in line not only with
Israel's demands, but those of Israel's friends at the CIA:
"President Johnson had already swung away from the tentative pro-Arab
stance of the Kennedy administration which had always been frowned upon
by the CIA." 181
Deacon reports that Walt Rostow, the president's national security
advisor believed that US policy towards Israel would serve as an effective
check on Soviet support for Arab countries. "Thus," according to Deacon,
"Rostow reflected almost totally the views of the CIA hierarchy." 182
Johnson, himself, also had long-standing ties to Israel's friends in the
CIA from his years of service in the Senate.
As Senate Majority Leader, Johnson worked closely with the CIA on a
regular basis and was considered a "CIA friend" in Congress.
Unquestionably, however, Lyndon Johnson did indeed begin a major
shift in U.S. Middle East policy—keeping in line with his joint devotion to
not only the CIA's interests, but those of Israel's as well.