The Israel Parliament unanimously referred the government’s latest defense bill to committee last night after its presentation to the body by Premier David Ben Gurion, who also holds the Defense portfolio.
In presenting the measure, the Premier warned that any relaxation of security “may be fatal to us, in the naked meaning of the word.” However, he said that if forced to defend itself either against its neighbors or as part of an international force engaged in a global conflict Israel would give a good account of itself. Revealing that Israel’s military might has doubled in the last two years, Mr. Ben Gurion pledged that “Israel will not help any act of aggression against anybody under any pretext whatever.”
He warned, however, that in making its defense efforts Israel must understand that it will have to depend on its own people and resources alone. “We cannot rely on assistance from abroad,” Premier Ben Gurion said, pointing out that it is “impossible to calculate on volunteers from abroad as in the war of independence.”
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.
