British Government Reiterates Contention That Israel is Well Armed

The British Government reiterated today its contention that Israel still has the best of the balance of power in the Middle East. Replying in Gommons to a written question from Laborite Kenneth Younger. A.D. Dodds-Parker, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, said that the government is “satisfied that Israel is in a position to defend herself successfully.”

In another reply to Arthur Henderson, Labor, Mr. Dodds-Parker said that the government had given “due consideration,” in the light of its policy, to requests from Israel that it be granted arms to offset supplies of weapons received by Egypt from Soviet bloc countries. In response to still a third question, he said the British Government was “generally well informed” about arms transactions between the Arab states and East Europe, but he refused to give figures about that trade because they “cannot be wholly accurate or complete.”