Israel Was Just Helping U.S., Kennedy Says

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Thursday that both Republicans and Democrats agree Israel only tried to help the United States when it shipped weapons to Iran.

Kennedy discussed the arms shipments with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and then told reporters he saw no reason to doubt Israel’s claim that it did not initiate the idea of supplying arms to Iran in exchange for freedom for U.S. hostages in Lebanon.

“On both sides of the aisle there is a general recognition that Israel was attempting to be responsive to a friend and that friend was making a special effort in order to secure the release of Americans who are being held,” Kennedy said.

Won’t Affect Relations

He was quoted by Shamir’s spokesman, Yossi Ahimeir, as telling the Israeli leader the affair would not affect Israel’s relations with the U.S. Congress.

Kennedy told Shamir the arms deal, which has become a major political crisis for President Reagan, “is mainly an internal American problem,” Ahimeir said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres defended Israel’s decision to send the weapons to Iran as a humanitarian act that did not compromise its fight against terrorism.

“We didn’t break any law on the subject of Iran,” Peres told high school students in Haifa.