The Israeli Parliament today had given Premier David Ben Gurion’s new coalition government a vote of confidence on foreign policy after an eight-hour debate and a 90-minute summation by the Prime Minister in which he paid tribute to the Soviet Union for the support it had given the Jewish State and outlined why Israel sought closer relations with the United States.
A non-confidence motion, introduced by the left-wing Mapam Party, was defeated by 63 to 16 votes. The confidence vote was carried by 60 to 36.
Mr. Ben Gurion opened his reply to the debate last night with a blunt warning to the Mapam which had threatened that in the event of war with the Soviet Union, its members would refuse to bear arms. Disobedience in wartime, he declared, would be punished as treason.
He defined Israel’s policy as immigration, independence, development and the strengthening of peace and friendship with all the nations of the world without discrimination.
He described three categories of nations as a guide to Israel relationships: first those nations unwilling to have contact with Israel, such as the Arab States and Pakistan; second, those countries maintaining relations on the Government level only, such as the Soviet Union, and third, countries whose governments and people maintain contact with Israel. Relations with each country, he said, are governed by the category in which that country falls.
Israel, he added, needed help. It needed trained soldiers and it needed arms. It naturally had to seek assistance in those countries where it had the possibilities of contact with the government and people. Israel, he said, desperately needs immigration and has to pay for it at a price taxing its possibilities.
In a reference to the Soviet Union he said that “we won’t forget and we shall always be grateful for her assistance, but the experience of the last five years has taught us that there cannot be immigration without contact with the people of the respective countries and there isn’t such contact. Rule over Russia is not in the hands of the workers and peasants but of the Communist Party which has always opposed emigration.”
The United States, on the contrary, Mr. Ben Gurion pointed out, “where there is the greatest Jewish community of our times and which has contributed and will continue to contribute much to build up our State, ” has extended economic and other aid to Israel.
WARNED WEST ON ARMING OF ARAB STATES
The Prime Minister said that in connection with the proposed Middle East Command, Israel had warned the Western Powers that the arming of the Arab States would constitute a danger to Israel since the day might come when they might use these arms against the Jewish State.
He said there were powers that would like to conciliate the Arab States at the expense of Israel but insisted that there were prospects of Arab-Israeli peace which could be realized in the future under given conditions. These conditions, he said, were the consolidation of the State of Israel and the liberalization and democratization of the Arab States.
Another factor, he said, was the geographical proximity of Israel to the Arab States, the linguistic and cultural proximity and common origin. Co-operation between the two may eventually come on the basis of equality, he declared.
Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett left by air for Paris today to head the Israeli delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. Prior to his departure from Lydda Airport, Mr. Sharett expressed the hope that the General Assembly would contribute much to peace and stabilization. He was accompanied to the airport by the British and Dutch Ministers.
Eliahu Elath, Israel Minister to London, who was summoned here for urgent consultations prior to the Foreign Minister’s foreign policy statement on Sunday, will return to his post tomorrow after four days of conferences at the Foreign Office largely in connection with the proposed Middle East Command discussions.
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.
