Britain’s proposed lifting of the arms embargo on the Arab states would “seriously interfere” with the Lausanne peace talks, Israeli circles declared hero today. They pointed out that since only armistice agreements are in force between Israel and some of the invading Arab states, a resumption of arms shipments would constitute a violation of the Security Council ban against the supplying of arms to either side of the Palestine war.
British officials said today that the British decision to permit shipment of small arms to some Arab states did not constitute a lifting of the Palestine arms embargo imposed” after war broke out a year ago. Only small arms would be sent to some |of the Arab states for internal security purposes, they declared. These deliveries would not in any way affect the military balance in the Middle East, they said.
The officials compared these shipments to the recent delivery of arms to Syria by France and said that, as in that case, Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, United Nations acting mediator for Palestine, had been consulted.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
