Chairman Alexander Wiley of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today defended the Administration policy on the Arab arms issue. He revealed that Sen. Ives of New York sent him a telegram that contained a request for a restatement of the Republican position on the Near East.
Explaining why the Arabs are being armed, Sen. Wiley said: “The Eisenhower Administration desires, as do all thinking Americans, to fill in certain dangerous vacuums which now exist in several strategic areas of the globe. The Administration’s sound strategic effort to establish such a southern tier against Communism has, however, as you know, been distorted and misinterpreted by some partisan sources.”
Arguing that “the Eisenhower Administration has spoken with commendable frankness and sincerity on this Middle Eastern issue,” Sen. Wiley added: “Dwight Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles have acted in an open and above-board manner, which is a refreshing change from certain past Democratic practices down here.”
The Republican Party is “definitely and enthusiastically” committed to preventing any misuse of the arms given the Arabs, Sen. Wiley said. He praised Sen. Ives’ “outstanding record” on behalf of Israeli-American friendship. The Administration and the Republican Party, said Sen. Wiley, “are very definitely committed toward strengthening–in all possible ways–the traditional friendship which the people of the United States of all faiths have enjoyed with the democratic Republic of Israel.”
In his statement of why the Arabs are being armed, Sen. Wiley stressed the Communist threat to the Near East. Allocation of aid to Iraq, he said, “definitely includes, of course, strong and essential safeguards against any aggressive use of weapons. Such aid, moreover, in no way precludes the grant of aid to Israel which, as a matter of fact, remains under consideration.”
In his message to Sen. Wiley, Sen. Ives said: “I have found continued deep interest throughout New York State in the position of the Eisenhower Administration and of the majority in the U.S. Congress in our relations with the State Israel. President Eisenhower’s splendid statement on October 20 has of course reaffirmed our traditional position to help prevent any renewal of military aggression against the State of Israel and has served to answer certain unfair and baseless partisan charges which have been levelled against the Administration.
“I believe, however, it would be informative if you, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, might comment publicly regarding what you feel to be the attitude of the Republican Party in Congress,” Sen. Ives stated.
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.
