1968_4_arabisraelwar

AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION / 201
The New York Daily News, whose anti-foreignism and isolationism are
matched only by its anti-Communism, commented the day after war broke
out that "'most Americans seem likely to sympathize with Israel, a small nation
and a brave one." On June 8, the day after Israel had swept within
18 miles of the Suez Canal, captured Sharm-el Sheikh at the entrance to the
Gulf of Aqaba, taken the Jordanian sector of Jerusalem, and gained control
of the West Bank of the Jordan River, the Daily News argued editorially that
"to the victors belong the spoils." Using the voice of a fictional character,
Cussin' Cousin J. Fussen Rasmussen, the editorial declared:
"I mean let the Israelis keep most if not all of the territory they've overrun
this week, and the hell with squawks and squeals from Nasser, Syria, Jordan,
the UN, or anybody else.
"And I'm not being overly pro-Israeli or anti-Arab. I'm merely talking common
sense."
Israel generally enjoyed a favorable press during the conflict, though it was
rather cool at the outset, no doubt because editors feared American military
intervention. It was in fact more favorable than it had ever been, particularly
among conservative newspapers impressed by Israel's military prowess. (Jokes
abounded about the possibility of General Moshe Dayan's helping the United
States win a victory in Vietnam.)
The most notable gain for Israel in editorial opinion came from the Luce
publications, particularly Time and Life. For years both journals had been
consistently pro-Arab, their criticism of Israel focusing on the Arab refugees
and the status of Jerusalem. They had frequently criticized United States
policy because it appeared to favor Israel over the Arab states. It seemed the
six-day war effected a dramatic change in these long-held views. (Or was
the change a consequence of Henry Luce's death in March?) A Time essay,
"On Facing the Reality of Israel" (June 23), concluded:
The sad persistence of the Arab attitude is perhaps the strongest argument
for Israel's need to protect itself. Since the U.N. has shown its inability to protect
them, Israelis argue that they can give up the real estate they deem essential
to their security only if the Arabs agree to peace—and to reality.
Another Time essay, "Arabia Decepta: A People Self-Deluded" (July 14),
reflected disappointment in the Arabs, taking an unromantic, hardheaded
view of them:
... for two decades, Arab leaders have been . interested in mounting suicidal
wars against Israel. If the Arabs truly weighed their own self-interest after their
latest, disastrous defeat, they would face facts—or so a Westerner would reason—accept
Israel's extended hand, and join in desert-blooming projects that
could lift the whole Middle East to unprecedented heights of peace and prosperity.
To begin this process, they would not need suddenly to embrace the
Israelis, or grovel to them; they would need only to acknowledge the country's
right to exist. What ails them? Are they really a case of arrested development,
doomed for generations to the kind of emotional and political instability
that makes the Middle East one of the world's danger zones?