U.S. Support for S. Africa

I heartily agree with Stephen Solarz (Editorial Pages, June 17) that America should set “compelling moral standards for the internation community” in establishing stiff economic sanctions against South Africa. Only then, perhaps, we can pressure our ally, Israel, to follow our lead in dealing with the apartheid regime. As it is, while more and more countries and private companies are cutting ties with South Africa, Israel is quietly moving in the other direction.

According to the South African Financial Mail of Jan. 31, “cooperation between South Africa and Israeli companies has reached a high point.”

What the Israelis and South Africans plan to do, the article continues, is to use last year’s free trade agreement between the United States and Israel to “re-export duty-free South African products” into the United States with the only stipulation being that “they have 35% added-value in Israel.”

According to the free trade agreement, however, all products must “be wholly the growth, or manufacture, of the U.S. or Israel, or be substantially transformed into a new article.”

Not only are the Israelis breathing life into the dying apartheid regime but they also seem ready to break U.S. laws to do it. I doubt that those congressmen who voted to approve the free trade agreement intended South Africa to be the beneficiary of their generosity.

JEFFREY BLANKFORT

San Francisco