Democratic Palestine : 22 (ص 27)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 22 (ص 27)
- المحتوى
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FTA—US Escape Hatch for ‘Israel’
This is the continuation of the study we printed in previous issues of Democratic Palestine, on the US-
Israeli relationship, as seen from US imperialism’s vantage point.
The rise of popular liberation movements, the spread of
socialism, the importance of the Gulf oil, and the presence of
three major naval chokepoints in the region (the Suez Cana!
Strait of Hormuz and Bab Al Mendib) - all these factors
necessitate the reinforcement of the US’s most faithful ally in
the region, the Zionist entity. According to General George
Crist, commander in chief of the US Central Command,
responsible for the Gulf area, «We have two overriding in-
terests in the Gulf. One is keeping the Soviets out... The other
is guaranteeing access to the oil resources of the region. The
Gulf’s importance is obscured by the present petroleum glut,
but all the experts predict that by the mid-1990s we will again
be very dependent on that region for oil...» (U.S. News and
World Report, April 21, 1986).
The 1980s have witnessed unprecedented strategic
agreements between the US and the Zionist entity on the
economic and military level. This intensified relationship has
manifested itself most particularly in the Free Trade Area
agreement (FTA) and Israeli participation in Reagan’s SDI
(Strategic Defense Initiative). Through these agreements, the
US—Israeli relationship has been restructured to realize im-
perialist ambitions in the region in terms of current and future
contingencies. These changes took place most tangibly in the
wake of the Israeli economic crisis which reached its peak in
the mid-1980s.
_ The FTA is a pact between the US and the Zionist entity,
designed to end all tariffs on all trade between the two coun-
tries over a period of 10 years. Under article XXIV of the
GATT (the international General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade), two signatories to that agreement may create a free
trade area, provided that there is an elimination of duties and
other restrictive regulations of commerce on all trade between
the two countries undertaking the arrangement, and that this is
accomplished in a reasonable length of time.
Officially, the FTA has been effective since September
1,1985. ‘Israel’ had been pressing for such an agreement since
the 1970s, but the idea first became a concrete proposal in
November 1983 - not surprisingly, at the height of the Israeli
economic crisis. «The agreement to set up a free trade zone
between the two... was reached at a time when Israel was look-
ing to the US for a shot in the arm for its economy»
(Washington Post, May 8, 1985). The credit standing of
‘Israel’ was being questioned on the world market; external
debt exceeded $7,000 per capita - one of the highest in the
world; annual debt servicing amounted to 33% of the
country’s debt; and foreign loans stood at $7 billion. Direct
and immediate US involvement was an imperative.
One alternative was dollarization of the Israeli economy.
However, with the Zionist entity already being a faithful ex-
ecutor of US imperialist policies on all levels, nothing would
have been left to distinguish it from being in actuality a Slst
state. The solution resorted to was a large injection of financial
aid to bail ‘Israel’ out of its economic crisis, restructuring the
industrial base, raising the slogan of «export or expire», and
implementing a free trade agreement. This agreement aims to
facilitate trade so as to provide ‘Israel’ with an income which
in the long run would relieve the US of having to pump in large
aid sums, while at the same time providing ‘Israel’ with a large
measure of financial self-sufficiency.
Under the FTA, the Israeli government’s subsidy program
would gradually be phased out, some of it on the spot and
some later, but all of it by 1991. According to US Secretary of
State Schultz, «To promote economic growth, the government
must get out of business.» Thus, a large number of Israeli
government-owned enterprises are selling out to private com-
panies. This should release the Israeli government from its role
as subsidizer of economic projects, leaving it free to play a
more effective military and political role, instead of swallow-
ing up aid money to rectify economic crises. «The government
should run foreign affairs, try to achieve peace and maintain
security,» according to Schult (Jerusalem Post, April 4, 1986). »
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- Democratic Palestine : 22
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