American Groups Urge U.S. to Intervene to Keep Middle East Peace

The American Christian Palestine Committee told Secretary of State John Foster Dulles today that only direct intervention in the Near East can stem the threat of war there. The organization urged the United States to take the initiative to secure the integrity of existing demarcation lines between Israel and the Arab States and warned that “only an immediate guaranty by the United States of the territorial status quo can lead to an abatement of tensions in the area.” It also recommended that the Western Powers invoke the spirit of Geneva and call upon the Soviet Union to prevent an arms race.

The American Jewish Committee, at its national executive board meeting Sunday, urged the United States to take immediate steps to prevent changes in the balance of arms between the Arab States and Israel pending security guarantees. It called for “immediate” implementation of the Dulles proposals for Arab-Israel peace, warning that the Communist arms shipments “have drastically changed the timetable” and now “make it imperative to defeat the intent of the Kremlin to exploit unrest in the Middle East.”

In Seattle, Sen. Warren G. Magnuson disclosed he had written Secretary Dulles that the United States “should reassert its willingness to guarantee Arab-Israel borders through formal treaty obligations.” He called for “an additional assurance” for Israel that it will be protected and a warning to Egypt that aggression with Communist-supplied arms will be regarded here “in a most serious light.”