Secretary of State John Foster Dulles conferred this morning with leading members of the Senate, after which a statement was issued revealing that the question of sanctions against Israel was discussed. The statement was given to the press by Sen. Lyndon Johnson, Senate Majority Leader, who emphasized that its contents was authorized by all participants. The statement read:
“We had a frank exchange of views and a thorough consideration of various amendments introduced into the Middle East resolution now pending in the Senate. The group appreciates the Secretary’s frankness and courtesy and assured him his views will be given every consideration. The meeting was productive and fruitful. It was a carrying on of the spirit of responsible cooperation between the Executive Branch and the Congress. It is to be hoped that this type of conference and consultation will be continued in the future.
“The question of sanctions was discussed. The Administration seems to be exploring every possible means to bring about a settlement of this problem. To that end, Secretary Dulles is meeting with Ambassador Eban this afternoon.”
Neither Sen. Johnson, nor his Republican counterpart, William F. Knowland of California, would go beyond the statement in comment. Others who participated were: Christian Herter, Jr., Under Secretary of State, Sens. Theodore Green (Dem., R. I.), Alexander Wiley (Rep., Wis.), Richard Russell (Dem., Ga.), Mike Mansfield (Dem., Mont.), and Everett Dirksen (Rep. III.).
Secretary Dulles’ meeting with the bi-partisan group of legislators followed a similar meeting which was held last Wednesday in the White House between President Eisenhower and a score of Congressional leaders. Sens. Johnson and Knowland left that meeting opposed to any sanctions against Israel. The same evening President Eisenhower, in a nationwide broadcast, criticized Israel for refusing to withdraw from the Gaza and Akaba areas without guarantees against renewed Egyptian acts of aggression and, without mentioning sanctions, gave a strong indication that unless Israel withdrew, the United States might vote for them at the United Nations.
President Eisenhower’s broadcast evoked great protest in the United States, and was strongly criticized in England, France and other countries. The British and French governments indicated complete disagreement with the pressure President Eisenhower was exerting on Israel. Opposition to American sanctions against Israel was also expressed by a number of leading members of both Houses of Congress, as well as by former President Harry Truman and the former U. S. Ambassador to Rome, Mrs. Clare Booth Luce, one of Mr. Eisenhower’s first supporters in his fight for the Presidential nomination in 1952 and a power in Republican circles.
U. S. AND ISRAEL WILL FIND COMMON GROUND, JEWISH LEADER PREDICTS
The next day Secretary Dulles invited to the State Department a group of Jewish personalities to present to them the views of the U. S. Government on the Israel issue. The group was led by Barney Balaban, president of Paramount Pictures, and included Louis Novins, another officer of Paramount Pictures Samuel D. Leidesdorf, treasurer of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York: Jacob Blaustein, former president of the American Jewish Committee; William Rosenwald, general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal; Philip N. Klutznick, president of B’nai B’rith: Mendel Silverberg, a leading member of the Jewish community of Los Angeles, and Irving Engel, president of the American Jewish Committee. President Eisenhower’s Cabinet secretary, Maxwell Rabb, participated.
Mr. Balaban later denied that Secretary Dulles asked the Jewish leaders to exert pressure on Israel to withdraw from the Gulf of Akaba and the Gaza Strip. He added: “As far as I am concerned, and I am sure that the others who attended this conference feel as I do, I intend to continue actively in support of the United Jewish Appeal and other similar philanthropies in view of what is happening to Jews in Egypt and elsewhere. I feel the need is greater today than every before.”
Mr. Klutznick, one of the participants, predicted that the United States and Israel would find common ground to end current impasse in the Middle East crisis. He said he believed that a formula would be worked out in the high level negotiations how in progress between the two nations. “The fundamental fact is that there is no difference in the objectives of either nation,” he declared. Both the United States and Israel seek the attainment of peace in the Middle East. They can best serve this cause, he added, “by establishing grounds for acting in concert.”
Mr. Klutznick expressed his views before the B’nai B’rith administrative committee, the organization’s policy-making body, which opened yesterday a three-day meeting. He ascribed to Israel’s government “a realistic, mature and fully-justified behavior in its demands for safeguards to Israel’s security before withdrawing troops from the Gaza Strip and the Gulf of Akaba area.”
“There is no gainsaying Israel’s motives or morality in her refusals to submit to one-sided international pressures, ” Mr. Klutznick said. “The protection of the security of her citizens and her efforts to be free from economic blockade are proper assertions of her sovereignty and the statements made by American governmental leadership in recent weeks recognize this. The ability of the American and Israel governments to make common cause for peace in the Middle East would be a substantive declaration of trust in one another”
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.
