Israeli Ambassador Addresses IOP

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Moshe Arens defended Israel's invasion of Lebanon, amid heavy security at the Institute of Politics (IOP) Forum last night while 70 demonstrators from three different groups marched outside.

"Lebanon is not and will not ever be a center of international terrorism again," Arens said, adding that the Israeli Army has ended the "indescribable tragedy" in Lebanon over the last seven years.

Meanwhile, outside on Kennedy St., about 30 students carried placards saying "Israel Yes, Begin No."

Joseph M. Schwartz, of the newly organized Students for Peace in the Middle East, said yesterday that "We want to make a clear statement against the government of Begin but for Israel and for the conciliation in the Middle East."

About 30 members of the Spartacus Youth League (SYL) made more noise, chanting anti-Zionist and other slogans. "We're here to protest the Israeli Ambassador's speaking in the wake of Zionists' genocide," Tom Dowling of the SYL said last night.

Meanwhile, a pro-Begin campus group of about 15 sung traditional Jewish songs to drown out the two groups of protestors.

"We're here to make sure Arens gets a friendly reception," Jesse Fried '85, co-chairman of the Harvard-Radcliffe Zionist Alliance, said last night.

There were no disruptions inside the Forum, which was sealed off a half hour before Arens began by a large detail of both uniformed and plainclothes University police.

In his 20-minute prepared speech, Arena said that Israel's swift destruction of Russian-made equipment had significantly changed the perception of Russian influence in the Mideast and the world.

He predicted that after this war, "the Russians will be talking less," and added that the condition of the Eastern Bloc countries "under the Soviet heel" could improve.

The ambassador spent another half-hour fielding questions, most of them favorable to him.

When asked about the popular opposition to the Begin government within Israel, Arens responded, "Israel is a democracy," adding a description of the parliamentary system of government.

During his two-day trip to the Boston area, Arens also spoke at a seminar at the Center For International Affairs, and addressed the Forum at his own request. The visit marked his first appearance at a college in his eight months as ambassador.