Israel renewed its plea for peace with its Arab neighbors before the conference of the Interparliamentary Union which is taking place here and which is attended by members of the Israel and Arab parliaments. However, the Arab speakers at the conference rejected Israel’s appeal.
In an address which drew praise from a number of the 500 delegates of 49 countries attending the parley, David Hacohen, Israel’s former Ambassador to Burma, asked the Arab states to allow the “small voice of Israel be heard above the noise, tensions and war preparations in the Middle East. ” Israel, he continued, wants peace but “we will never allow our neighbors to destroy us by force of arms, nor will they succeed. “
Each of the Arab states, led by the Egyptian delegation, attacked Israel and its proposals, asserting that the Middle East could not return to peace as long as the Jewish State existed. They were backed by the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Pakistan. Pressure was being built up behind a resolution on refugees which the Arab states were attempting to use to force repatriation of Palestine Arabs on Israel.
The Dutch delegation was favorable to Israel and British delegate Elaine Burton objected to the attempt to single out the Arab refugees among all the others. She suggested that this specific problem might be solved by an Arab-Israel settlement recognizing Israel’s existence and ending the Arab blockade and boycott of Israel.
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.
