Arms Sales Proposal to Saudi Arabia

Our proposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia will increase the Saudis'

ability to withstand the threat from radical Arab states.

It'll in no substantive way disrupt the balance of power

between Israel and the Arab world, just the opposite.

By making the region more secure, it will make Israel more secure.

For the sake of our own national interest and of security in this vital region,

indeed for the sake of world peace itself, I ask you to permit the arms

sale to go forward.

The--

I n--

I know that there are some things and-- that, that are visible and that you

think and, think and say about the Saudi Arabias.

On the other hand,

in the area of diplomacy, there are some things that just should not be

talked

about. They've got a political problem with the

radicals in their own

midst and the radical Arab states around them.

But I can only tell you that they have been most supportive in a,

in a quieter way,

and, uh, they cover it with these other things they

say for an obvious

reason. But they have been supportive, and we have had for

more than forty years now

a relationship and an agreement, mutual security agreement, with

the Saudi Arabians, and it has been beneficial to both of us.