Saudi Arabia Threat of Force to Halt Israeli Ship Passage
c! Through Tiran Strait Poses Test of United States Pledges
i
delivered his warning to the it is easy enough to foresee estimates made available to its
the final stage of the transfor- editors.
State Department.
The USSR statement asserted mation of the UN Force in Mrs. Meir Reports Impending
that the attempt of the Eisen- Egypt into "Nasser's border `Business Meeting' with Soviet
hower Administration to "guar- guard," as some of the officers
JERUSALEM, -(JTA) — Mrs.
antee" Israeli transit in the call it. This will be the clear Golda Meir, Israeli Foreign
Gulf of Aqabl" was really a result of the as yet un- Minister said she would soon
guarantee of "violation of announced deal that has been hold a "business meeting" with
Egyptian sovereignty." virtually signed and sealed be- Soviet . Ambassador Alexander
Israel's allies, Britain and tween UN Secretary Dag Ham- Abramov at which one of the
marskjold and his assistant principal ubjects was expected
France, responded promptly
Ralph Bunche, on the one to be the growing anti-Israel
to the new challenge. British
hand, and Egypt's President campaign in Soviet newspapers.
Foreign Under Secretary
Lord Gosford told the House. Nasser on the other.
Israeli sources view the So-
"The
Egyptian controlled po- viet press campaign with deep
"
of Lords that Britain assum-
ed the Aqaba Gulf would lice," Alsop added "will more- concern. Mrs. Meir and the So-
remain open to all shipping over have the right to use arms viet envoy met for the -first
but that His Majesty's Gov- against border crossers. But the time since the latter's return to
ernment was considering UN elements in the border pa- Israel. He had been recalled
what should be done if an trols will not enjoy this rather immediately after the start of
essential military privilege."
U.S. Denies Authorizing
attempt was made to inter-
the Sinai campaign in a Soviet
Tanker's Visit to Elath
fere with shipping.
indication of hostility. Shortly
Egypt Moving Into Red Orbit
Eisenhower Administration
France is ready to loan Israel Says N.Y. Herald Tribune
after his recall, the 'Soviets
sources have insisted that the $15 million for an Elath-Medi- WASHINGTON, ( A J P )
abruptly suspended a corn-
United States did not direct the terranean oil pipeline whether "Egypt, linked with commun- mercial agreement by which
Kern Hills to visit Elath, al_ the projected line is 16 inches, ism through agreements which Israel had received substantial
though no denial was made of as Israel is planning it, or 32 mean she will have a Red- quantities of Russian crude oil.
the obvious fact that the tanker inches -as France would prefer, armed army, navy and air
(Jacob Tsur, Israel Ambassa-
would not have made the trip Finance Minister Levi Eshkol force, has been moving steadily dor to France, left Paris for a
if the State Department had op- told the Knesset Finance Com- closer toward the Communist two week' private visit to Mos-
posed it.
mittee. orbit through a series of corn- cow where he will spend Pass-
He said a 32-inch line could mercial and cultural pacts and over with the family of Joseph
The Eisenhower Administra-
tion back-tracking rested on carry 25 million tons of oil an- exchanges with Moscow and Avidar, Israeli envoy to Russia.
Mrs. Avidar is Ambassador
the fact that the American- nually and would cost $60 mil- her satellites.
owned tanker made the trip lion. The problem, he said, was
"Cairo's arms deal with the Tsur's sister.)
under charter to an Israeli not getting the money but as- Communists in September 1955,
(Contrary to repeated denials
suring enough crude to supply tied up. nearly 18 per cent of by State Department spokes-
company.
With a timing that could such a pipeline. The clear infer- Egypt's income from exports men, Israeli officials here in..
scarcely be coincidental, the ence was that France would not in 1955; 21 per cent in 1956, sisted that the State Depart-
-Soviet Union came out with a invest so heavily if the line and a similar amount in the ment had "clearly agreed" in
advance of the procedure to
statement opposing freedom of would never be used for lack first half of this year."
navigation for Israeli shipping of crude oil, which could only
The • above was reported by the passage of the American
Elath.
to
in the Gulf of Aqaba. The come by tanker
the N.Y. Herald Tribune on tanker through the Gulf of
statement appeared in "Iz- Israel Keeps Watchful Eye
the basis of foreign intelligence Aqaba).
vestia," the official government On New Jordanian Politics
■ ■
■
■
■
■
■•■•■
organ, on the same day that
JERUSALEM, (JTA)—Israel
the Saudi Arabian ambassador assumed a posture of watchful
Boris Smolar's
waiting this week as' neighbor-
ing Jordan was buffeted, by
new political eruptions which
carried the threat of dismem-
berment of the synthetic Hash-
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
emite kingdom.
Young King ,Hussein, disturb-
(copyright, 1957,
Another State Department. Vagiyr.
ed by the steady drift of Jordan
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, inc.)
into the Soviet- camp via his
DOCtrine of - Immaculate Assumption ' -:
oil. tanker Kern pro-Russian premier, - Suleiman
After it had been publicized that
Non-Zionist Views
14111s -had made the voyage through.. the Gulf of Aqaba to Elath Nabulsi, abruptly ousted him.
The American Jewish Committee has reexamined its policy
with the approval of the State Department, Lincoln White, The King's gamble was that the on Israel . . . At its 50th_ anniversary conference it adopted a
the
State
Department,
stated
that
it
was
not
an
British-trained Arab Legion Statement of Views not. much different from the one adopted
speaking for
official U.S. Go'vernment-sponsored deliberate test of the Arab would remain loyal to him if eight years ago, following the establishment of Israel . . . The
blockade. He said the freighter's trip should be regarded instead Nabulsi called out the street reexamination took place in the light of events during those
as a logicall application of U.S. policy to regard the Aqaba Gulf mobs..
eight years . . . Few in this country know that the American
Syria and Saudi Arabia Jewish Coinmittee—non-Zionist as it has been—is an original en-
as an international 'waterway.
causes
us
to*wonder
whether
this
is
not
another
State
which,
along
with
Egypt,
would
Which- .
dorser of the Balfour Declaration which promised the establish-
Department resort to vague language and to expressions of policy seize chunks of Jordan should ment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine It also supported
the opportunity arise, began to
which could be interpreted a dozen ways.-
the Partition Plan, which brought about the establishment of
No one in his•right mind would interpret approval of a ship's move troops. A spate of ru-
Israel, and played an impOrtant role in securing the adoption of
voyage as placing our Government in the shipping business. mors were circulated from the
this plan by the United Nations . . . Its founders, Louis Marshall
. Therefore, why even- imply anything about a U.S. Government- Arab capitals that Israel plan- and Felix Warburg, were members of the Jewish Agency execu-
ned
to
invade
Jordan,
apparent-
sponsored business? If our spokesmen were more frank, so that
tive when Dr. Chaim W,eizmann headed it ... Thus, the American
those who seek Israel's destruction should understand hilly ly to provide justification for
Jewish Committee has a long-standing record of supporting the
that no one approves their aim to demolish-the state and destroy any Arab seizures of Jordan
Zionist cause without being a Zionist group .. • It now stands on
its people; there might be an end to this game of shadoW-boxing. territory.
Israel officials said ,there record as pledging aid in the upbuilding of Israel with a view
Our State Department continues to play hide-and-go-seek
to help the "development of its capacity to provide a free and
with a definite - American pledge: to guarantee freedom of navi- were no Israeli troop concen-
dignified life for those who desire to.make it their home . . . It
trations
along.
the
Jordanian
gation for all nations, including Israel. Its latest statement adds
to the double talk which caused the -New Republic to state, in border and that there was no has lived up to this record through active intervention of its
in
an editorial, "The. Israeli. Showdown' ': "Both President Eisen- change in Israel's long-standing leaders with the State Department every time Israel was
On
hower and Secretary- General Hammarskjold have said they position tevard Jordan which trouble or needed American financial or other assistance .
`assume' Egypt will not 'interfere with passage, an attitude de- is based on the 1949 armistice one point only there were major differences of opinion between
the American Jewish Committee and leaders of the Israel gov-
scribed cynically as 'the doctrine of the immaculate assumption'." agreement.
*
*
*
A Foreign Ministry spokes- ernment ... The AJC opposed propaganda emanating from Israel
man, however, warned that that American Jews should not feel as secure as they do and
Israel's •Rights—"On -God's Side"
should learn the lesson of what had happened to the Jews in
A group of churches have reprinted and are distributing the agreement was signed
Germany who also left secure for generations . . This was
with
Jordan
as
an
indepen-
widely a column by Paul ,Kenyon, "It's the Truth!", address to
straightened out after Jacob Blausteiri, then president of the
dent
country.
Any
change
"Uncle Sam," stating:
in Jordan's sovereignty, he American Jewish Committee, went to Israel and talked over mat-
Dear. Uncle: You have been a nice old man for a long, long
said, would raise a question ters with Premier David Ben Guriori. .. . The pledge - made by
time. Though one of the youngest of all nations of the world,
as to whether the armistice Ben-GuriOn to Blaustein is being kept and the bond- of friendship
you have risen to the very top among them all in a comparative-
agreement would remain val- between the American Jewish Committee and Israel is stronger
ly short time. This was not an accident of hiAtery, Uncle. There
than ever . . . The "open war" which the AJC recently declared
id.
is a God over all who directs all things in human history unto
While Israel took no special against the stand of the anti-Zionist American Council for Juda-
a pre-determined destiny. Old Nebuchadnezzar, ancient Po-
military precautions, military ism testifies best to this.
tentate of the Babylonian Empire, once had to learn that les-
* * * * *
son the hard way. God put him through the Divine-meat-grind- • circles expressed fear that un-
Jewish
Action
rest
in
Jordan
might
have
a
er of judgment, and when he came out the other end he said:
An American Jewish . immigrant, member of an Orthodox
negative affect on the border
"And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
situation, which .has been rela- congregation in New York, emerged as the central figure in
and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven,
tively quiet for several Months. breaking the Arab blockade against Israel in:the Gulf of Aqaba
and among the inhabitants of• the earth: and none can stay His
. . . He is Samuel Wang, owner of the oil -tanker which carried
UN-Nasser Deal to Patrol
hand, or Say unto Him, What dOest Thou?" (Daniel 4:35).
Now Sam, it is possible for nice people like you to get tied Gaza Border Revealed by Alsop 16,500 tons of Persian Gulf oil to the Israel port of Elath as a
up with bad company and be on the wrong side. And that is
UNITED NATIONS, (AJP)— test case of the principle of innocent passage 'of ships from the
just what you are doing these days. You see, Sam, if you would
Columnist Joseph Alsop's re- Red Sea to Israel . . . A man of 41, Wang was born in Poland
a
read your Bible, and take God's Word . as your guide, instead port from Gaza — revealing . a and came to the United States in 1940 ... His father, owner of
UN-Nasser deal on joint bor- bakery, and all other members of his family were annihilated
of playing around with a lot of godless infidels who call them-
selves "The United Nations," you would know that fact. The der patrols caused quite a by the NaziS when they occupied Poland ... He himself attempt-
fact is that God is restoring His ancient nation Israel to their • commotion here. During a spe- ed to reach Palestine as an illegal immigrant, but was unsuccess-
cial press briefing, a UN ful .. . Upon immigrating into the United States, he became a
own land, which- He gave them in the days of Abraham. Israel
has a God-given title to the land. It does not belong to the Arabs, spokesman took great pains to diamond polisher and later entered the import business . • . How-
the
and never did. You can -play politic's to -try and preserve a explain that no concessions had ever, in 1951 he switched to the shipping business and is now.
been made to Egypt. However, owner of a fleet of tankers and freighters ... Interested in -Zion.
hopeless peace, Uncle, but you cannot change Gocrs plan. I'm
he was unable to contradict the ism since early youth, he visited Israel several times after the
Praying for you, Uncle Sam. You'd better get on God's side.
establishment of the Jewish State . . . It was from his firm that
- This is not a new appeal by religious-minded people. for the points raised by Alsop.
The well-known columnist Delek, the national oil company of Israel, rented the Kern Hill
recognition of Israel's rights. But it is more 'timely today than
ever before. The gesture—by the author and the distributors of reported that "it is still a secret tanker which will now go down in history as the first ship of
of Aqaba
hiS views—has the gratitude .. of all who believe in Phophecy- in Cairo and the Western capi- United States registry to reach Israel through the Gulf
' '
isr6eli
to
—kept
closed
by
the
Arabs
strip
-Gaza
tals;
but
here
in
the
and m -jtistice; -
WASHINGTON, (JTA) .—
Saudi Arabian - warning that
1-5 force would be used to stop any
E.4 Israeli ships seeking passage
5 through the Tiran Strait posed
g an inescapable test of the val-
Widity of the Eisenhower , Admin-
istration pledges on which
Israel withdrew - from the Sinai
Peninsula,
The warning Was delivered
1 by the Saudi Arabian Ambas-
sador in a message he brought
personally to the U.S. State
Department, which had been
waiting for nearly a week for
'-4 Arab reaction to the trip of the
American - owned Kern Hills
tanker through the waterway
to Elath on April 6.
A report from Cairo said that
ott
both Egypt and Saudi Arabia
protested formally to the Eisen-
hower Administration against
the passage through the Tiran
Strait and the Gulf of Aqaba
of the Kern Hill, which deliv-
ered 16,000 tons of desperately-
needed crude oil from Iran to
tanks at Elath.
The warning posed the
sharpest threat of a renewal
of Arab-Israel hostilities since
the end of the Sinai cam-
paign. Israel has a small
naval flotilla in the Gulf of
Aqaba.
With chances for Israeli tran-
sit through the re-opened Suez
Canal apparently doomed by
President Nasser's refusal to
budge in, his determination to
exercise total mastery • of the
canal, Israel has staked much
of her maritime future on the
development of Elath as a gate.
way to Asian and African
trade.
There was little doubt that
Saudi Arabian guns on the east
side of the Gulf of Aqaba
would be answered by Israeli
guns, should the Arabian king-
dom seek to make good its
threat.
The Eisenhower Administra-
tion had already moved to pro-
tect its status with the Arabs,
particularly with King Saud of
Arabia on whom the Adminis-
tration pins great hopes since
the. Eisenhower-Saud conversa-
tions early this year in Wash-
ington.
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Purely Commentary
'Between You
... and Me'
.
.