Premier David Ben Gurion, after an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet this morning, summoned U.S. Ambassador Edward B. Lawson and informed him that Israel is unable to alter its stand on the Gaza-Akaba issue despite President Eisenhower’s statement yesterday.
Mr. Ben Guriop explained to the American envoy the reasons for the Israel Government’s policy and submitted to him new proposals designed to bridge the gap between the American and the Israeli views. Meanwhile, the Cabinet decided this morning to post pone the foreign policy statement which Premier Ben Gurion was scheduled to make in Parliament tomorrow.
Immediately after the Cabinet meeting, Ambassador Abba Eban was summoned from Washington to Jerusalem for consultations. He will leave Washington tomorrow and will remain here for a week reporting fully on his talks with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles on the requested withdrawals of Israeli troops from the Gaza and Akaba areas.
The decision to bring Ambassador Eban home from Washington was interpreted by observers here as an indication that the Cabinet does not want to make the fateful decision without the fullest possible consideration. It took Jerusalem political circles completely by surprise. The official communique issued after the Cabinet session revealed that Mr. Eban had been invited to Jerusalem on the advice of Foreign Minister Golda Meir, currently in New York.
ISRAELIS ACCEPT EISENHOWER’S WARNING CALMLY; BENT ON SECURITY
The reports from Washington that the U. S. -Israel talks were deadlocked and the ominous statement from the White house were accepted without major shock by a calm Israel public, The general feeling remains that the government should not bend under American pressure. “We should not give up our security for $50,000,000.” is the way the man in the street puts it.
The knowledge of strong French support of Israel both politically and economically undoubtedly contributes to this feeling, as do the still well-stocked shop windows. Also, the month of suspense over the possibility of sanctions has conditioned the public to the idea that it will have to accept economic hardships in the future.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Israel America Friendship League was received by Ambassador Lawson. Its members stressed that Israelis were becoming concerned over the American position on freedom of navigation and Israel’s security. The Ambassador promised to convey the delegation’s views to Washington.
Israel has sufficient food supplies and other necessities to tide the country over in the event of economic difficulties, Minister of Trade and Industry Pinchas Saphir announced. He also assured livestock raisers that there were ample supplies of fodder on hand.
U. S. STAND DOES NOT ANSWER BASIC QUESTION, ISRAEL SAYS
Commenting of the American aide memoire handed Ambassador Eban last week by Secretary of State Dulles, a Foreign Ministry spokesman tonight said that the American document affirms that the Gulf of Akaba is an international waterway and it also indicates the United States intention to exercise its right of passage and to join others in securing recognition of this right.
However, the spokesman continued, it does not answer the basic question of how the present freedom is to be safeguarded upon the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the western coast of the Gulf. He cited official Egyptian pronouncements in the last few days of Egypt’s intention of restoring the blockade, thereby breaking its pledge to the United States and flouting the Security Council’s resolution confirming Israel’s right of passage through the Suez Canal.
The aide memoire offers no guarantee whatsoever that either the United States or the United Nations Emergency Force will prevent the resumption of the blockade against Israel shipping in the Gulf.
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.
