Basic HTML Version
?ASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, OCTOBER 28, 1983
PAGE 11
President Lyndon Johnson tried a guns-and-butter policy in America in the
1960s--fighting a war in Vietnam and trying to build a "Great Society" at
home.
Speaker Savidor commented further about the strains on the overburdened
shekel. One-third of Israel's national budget, he said, goes for defense
and another third goes for debt retirement. That leaves the last third for
social programs, with every party, political and religious interest group
fighting to retain or increase its own share.
This leads to "lively"
debates in the Knesset, to put it mildly. We stepped inside the Knesset
chamber for two to three minutes. Never have I heard such high-decibel
wrangling. It makes the U.S. House of Representatives look like a day-care
center.
Finally--Watch Cyprus
On top of all the mayhem in the Middle East, another crisis is brewing just
offshore in the eastern Mediterranean. Any day now, we were tipped off
early on in our trip, the authorities representing the Turkish half of
divided Cyprus may announce a unilateral declaration of independence. It
is just a matter of proper timing. Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash has
already had lengthy and apparently positive meetings with the mainland
Turkish government. However, Ankara is under growing pressure frem the
United States not to favor such a move. Washington warns that it could
precipitate another Greek-Turkish crisis along NATO's weak southern flank
and result in a cutoff of military aid to Turkey, similar to what happened
after Turkish forces invaded and took over part of Cyprus in 1975.
Well, that's it for now.
It has been a very profitable trip for Mr.
Armstrong and his traveling team. You'll read more particulars, I'm sure,
in the WORLDWIDE NEWS.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau