Israel Consolidating Its Position, British Foreign Secretary Tells Commons

Foreign Secretary Herbert Morrison, addressing the House of Commons today on the situation in the Middle East, expressed regret over the fact that there has been no progress toward permanent peace between Israel and the Arab countries. He emphasized that the Jewish state had established itself and was consolidating its position.

Declaring that the British Government had hoped eventually to bring about a settlement acceptable to both Jew and Arab alike, Secretary Morrison said Britain “would have brought peace and prosperity to the Holy land,” but other countries and the people of Palestine had their own ideas on the matter.

Relations between Britain and Israel were steadily improving, he told Parliament. He added that Britain does not consider its relations with the Arab states in any way incompatible with its relations with the Jewish state, despite the friction that exists between them.

It is distressing that mutual hostility and suspicion between Israel and the Arab states is still as strong as ever, the British Foreign Secretary stated. These emotions, he added, have been exacerbated by a series of major frontier incidents. Under these conditions, he continued, little progress has been made with economic and social improvements for the future prosperity of the countries concerned.

BRITAIN WILL RESIST AGGRESSION, WHETHER ARAB OR ISRAELI, MORRISON SAYS

The Foreign Secretary placed responsibility for this “unhappy” state of affairs on both parties. The Arab states, he pointed out, still feel unprepared and unable to recognize the “plain fact” that Israel has come to stay as a national entity and “cannot be swept away bag and baggage into the Mediterranean.” The Israelis, for their part, do not fully appreciate the strength of the Arab suspicion of their expansion aims and the importance of taking positive steps to allay the suspicion, he asserted.

He also took the opportunity to reaffirm the decision of the British Government to carry out the “obligations which it assumed in the tri-partite statement of May 25, 1950.” He stressed that “we shall resist any act of aggression, whichever side may commit it. I earnestly hope that reason will soon prevail and that both sides will come to the realization that it is in their own interest to put forward sincere and positive proposals for peace.”

Both parties would have to make considerable concessions, and Britain would do everything in its power to assist in the pacification of the Middle East, he emphasized, but it must be understood that nothing could be done unless and until the initiative came from the parties concerned. A settlement could be imposed from the outside, he pointed out, but added his opinion that peace must be freely and willingly negotiated.

Referring to the Israeli complaint against Egypt for blockading the Suez Canal, the Foreign Secretary said he regretted that Egypt had not modified its attitude toward the blockade, adding that Britain had done everything possible through diplomatic channels but to little avail. He also said he thought the U.N. Security Council would decide that there is no reasonable ground for continued discrimination against Israeli traffic and against oil tankers bound for the Haifa refineries. In this position Mr. Morrison was supported by Winston Churchill, who said that blockading the Canal was a violation of the Israeli-Egyptian armistice agreement.