Israel's Position Worsens; Middle East on War. Brink
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State Dept. Delays
Decision on Arms
WASHINGTON, (JTA)—Pro-
Israel circles here expressed
serious concern over the fact
that the State. Department is
stalling on granting permission
to Israel to acquire arms in
this country immediately in or-
der to prevent a possible Egyp-
tian surprise attack on the
Jewish State with bombers ob-
tained from Soviet countries.
Disappointment was especial-
ly expressed over the fact that
Secretary of State John Foster
Dulles apparently did not re-
act to the urgent personal ap-
peal made to him on Friday by
Israel Ambassador Abba Eban
for swift action on Israel's re-
quest for $50,000,000 worth of
American arms. It was predict-
ed here that Mr. Dulles may
not act for at least another six
weeks.
Pro-Israel circles feel that
delay by the United States in
selling arms to Israel is not
objectively justified and that, if
the State Department were sin-
cerely devoted • to preserving
Israel, it would prevent avoid-
able vulnerability of the State
to Egyptian jet plane attack.
The most urgent matter, in the
view of Israel diplomats, is the
growing preponderance of of-
fensive Egyptian air strength
while the United States con-
tinues to refuse to sell Israel
a single item. of military equip-
ment requested.
A fear exists that, even if
some really, effective tripartite
machinery were devised, Israel
might be struck a devastating
air blow before such apparatus
.might begin to function. Pro-
Israel circles here see the fu-
ture possibility of some inter-
national undertaking in the
Middle East as no reason to
withhold legitimate self-defense
weapons, when such equipment
is pouring into Egypt from the
Communist bloc.
Following his call on Secre-
tary Dulles last Friday, Mr.
Eban stated that he visited the
Secretary of State "for the sole
purpose of emphasizing Israel's
strong hope for early action on
its request for arms." In that
context, Mr. Eban said, a broad-
er discussion of Israel's secur 7
ity situation took place. The
Israel Ambassador stressed that
"the first element" in Israel
thinking was the necessity of
acquiring weapons. The tripar-
tite talks on Middle East se-
• curity were described by him
as of "marginal" interest in re-:
lation to the arms issue. "Ev-
ery week that passes without
action on the arms application
increases our sense of appre-
hension," Mr. Eban empha-
sized.
Republican Congressmen
Modify Stand on Arms Urgency
Meanwhile, Republican Con-
gressmen who last week urged
immediate shipment of arms to
Israel, modified their stand on
the urgency of Israel's need for
arms. Rep. Hugh Scott (R.
Penn.), supporting Secretary
Secretary D u 11 e ' position,
agreed that additional time is
needed to test alternative ways,
outside • of arms shipments, of
bringing peace to the Arab-Is-
rael area. He said Mr. Dulles,
in a recent talk with several
Republican • members of Con-
gress, suggested, among other
approaches to bring peace to
the area, the implementation of
the Tripartite Pact, the 'guaran-
ty of existing frontiers, and the
increase in the number of per-
sons engaged in neutral patrols
along the Arab-Israel border.
The Republican Congressman
declared that the State Depart-
ment feels there are better so-
lutions to the Middle East cri-
sis than selling arms to Israel
at this time. The Department
says that "something can be
done within the near future,"
Detroit Jewish News-19
Friday, February 17, 1956
Mr. Scott said. "We say if that
cannot be done," he added,
"then at the very least there
should be arms (to Israel) at
that time." Rep. Scott describ-
ed this as the position the Re-
publican Congressmen who sup-
port arms to Israel will main-
tain toward the State Depart-
inent. -
Rep. Kenneth B. Keating,
Republican, from New York,
said that Mr. Dulles was not
ruling out the necessity of arms
to Israel, and that Israel's re-
quest would be "seriously re-
considered" at that time when
present negotiations warranted
it. Rep. Emanuel Celler, a Dem-
ocrat, emphasizing Israel's im-
mediate need for arms, said
that a declaration of any kind
would not save Israel if Egypt
would suddenly attack. He said
it is Israel's need for arms that
must be considered immediate-
ly.
President Eisenhower con-
ferred with Eric Johnston on
the American plan for Arab-
Israel water cooperation. In the
course of last week's Tripartite
conference, the State Depart-
ment told the British and
French ambassadors that the
most immediate danger of Mid-
dle Eastern conflict arises from
a reported Israel plan to re-
sume operations on Jordan
River waters, at Bnot Yaacov,
site of the disputed project
which is located in the Israel
demilitarized zone adjacent to
Syria. The State Department
fears that Israel activity at
Bnot Yaacov may provoke Syr-
ian military measures, igniting
a conflict.
The possibility of direct
Tripartite military •nterven-
tion in the Arab-Israel con-
flict diminished as govern-
ment sources reported the
three powers decided on first
attempting to use the ma-
chinery of the United Na-
tions.
In the event of hostilities, the
first move would be an appeal
to the United Nations to order
a cease-fire and withdrawal of
,invading forces under penalty
of sanctions. If the United Na-
tions did not take such action,
the United States, England, and
France might then take steps.
Tripartite measures discussed
included an arms embargo, ec-
onomic embargo, naval block-
ade, and severance of money
and 'even charitable contribu-
tions originating in tripartite
nations. -
American Eabor Offers
Six-Point Peace Program
MIAMI BEACH, Fla., (JTA)
—The AFL-CIO suggested a
six-point program to achieve
Arab-Israel peace, and called
for immediate shipments of
U. S. munitions to Israel to
match Communist weapons
flowing to the Arabs. In a state-
ment released at its midwinter
conference here, the AFL-CIO
Council recommended that the
United Nations be the instru-
ment to bring about Mideast
peace.
The combined labor group,
representing virtually all or-
ganized workers in the United
States, suggested a permanent
UN committee of five nations
to preserve Mideast peace. It
urged sanctions against viola-
tors of peace, the calling of a
conference of Mideast nations
to resolve differences, and the
setting up of a special $500,-
000,000 fund to seek solution of
the Arab refugee problem. Is-
rael should be the main con-
tributor to the Arab refugee
fund, it was recommended.
The 3-Point Program
LONDON, (JTA) — Presi-
dent Eisenhower and Prime
Minister Sir Anthony Eden
have agreed on a three-prong-
ed approach as a solution to
the Arab-Israel conflict, Sir
Anthony declared upon his re-
turn from the Washington con-
ference.
There was complete agree-
ment between the two leaders
of the Anglo-American alliance
on all three points, Sir Anth-
ony said. He termed the Israel-
Arab conflict the "most impor-
tant danger" in the Middle
East. The three approaches to
the problem, he said are:
1. Trying, without benefit of
publicity to bring the parties
closer together. Financial help
had been offered to assist in
settling the "unhappy'? Arab
refugees, and the United States
and Britain had indicated their
willingness to guarantee
"agreed frontiers."; 2. An in-
crease in the number of United
Nations observers along the
borders to reduce the chance
of incidents; 3. To give effect
to the obligations of the signa-
tories of the Tripartite Declara-
tion of 1950. •
(In Washington, Israel Am-
bassador Abba Eban stressed
Israel's need for military
equipment in conferences with
the British and French Ambas-
sadors and U. S. officials in
connection with current tripar-
tite talks on Middle East se-
curity. The Ambassador empha-
sized the absolute priority of
arms for Israel as the only
sure method of averting aggres-
sion.)
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More UN Observers Is No
Solution, Israel Says
JERUSALEM, (JTA)— Israel
has rejected proposals by Brit-
ish Prime Minister Sir Anth-
ony Eden and Secretary of
State John Foster Dulles . to
"solve" border tension by sta-
tioning augmented forces of
United Nations observers an the
borders between Israel and the
Arab states and by having Is-
rael and Egypt each withdraw
their forces a distance of one
kilometer from the border thus
creating a one and one-quarter
mile wide strip to be adminis-
tereod by the UN truce super-
visory organization.
In a statement by the For-
eign Ministry, Israel insisted
that Sir Anthony's recent re-
marks in Ottawa and Secretary
Dulles' statement at a press
conference in Washington were
attempts to divert public atten-
tion from the -"real danger
threatening peace" in the Mid-
dle East.
A budget of 157,325,000 Isra-
el pounds for the current year
has been approved by the Jew-
ish Agency's permanent finance
committee.
Israel's Ambassador to Mos-
cow, Brig. Joseph Avidar, con-
ferred with Soviet Foreign
Minister V. M. Molotov. They
discussed "current develop-
ments" the Ambassador Avi-
dar is scheduled to arrive in
Israel to report to Foreign
Minister Moshe Sharett.
From now on Israelis who
want transit visas from the So-
viet authorities can obtain
them directly from the Soviet
Embassy in Tel Aviv, it was
announced by the Israeli For-
eign Ministry.
Strike Of Pr6fessionals
Discussed By Cabinet
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The
Cabinet devoted i t s entire
weekly session to discussions
relating to the six-day-old sal-
ary strike of ,physicians, educa-
tors, engineers and other pro-
fessionals which has disrupted
many governmental and health
services. However, no steps for
ending the walk-out were an-
nounced by the Cabinet, and
there were indications that the
strike would be expanded, em-
bracing other professions.
There was a general impres-
sion here that the negotiators
attempting to end the strike
have came up against new dif-
ficulties. The Israel Medical
Association elected a- new spe-
cial committee to negotiate a
settlement, but all moderates
on the old committee were ex-
cluded, while extremists were
added to the group.
Histadrut, the Israel Federa-
tion of Labor, which has de-
nounced the strike as anti-His-
tadrut a n d anti-government,
adopted a resolution calling for
an end to the walk-out without
granting a single demand of
the strikers.
Dr. Pinhas Rosen, \Minister of
Justice and the Progressive Par-
ty's representative in the Cabi-
net, quit the coalition govern-
ment in proteSt against what
he termed the government's
failure to keep faith with the
professional workers.
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