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Taft Opposes Sale of U.S. Arms to Arabs; Supports Aid to Israel

February 5, 1953
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Sen. Robert A. Taft, the Senate Majority Leader, said today that he considered the State of Israel as a special case meriting economic aid from the United States Government. He expressed himself forcefully against the delivery and sale of arms to the Middle East except, he said, as part of an overall plan against possible Soviet aggression.

In an interview here with the correspondents of three Israel newspapers, the Ohio Senator declared that he was opposed to the granting of economic aid to foreign countries with a few exceptions in special cases. He considered Israel one of these special cases, he said, because of the newness of the country and its immigration problem which he described as really an international responsibility.

Sen. Taft said he was opposed to financial aid for the Arab States which, with the possible exception of Egypt, did not need money. Saudi Arabia and Iraq, he asserted, have more money than they know what to do with.

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