Foreign Minister Golda Meir of Israel warned here today that her country would have “seriously to weigh the new situation and the measures to be taken for the security of its frontiers and its integrity” in the event that the United Arab Republic takes over Jordan.
She declared that the situation required a collective guarantee to all the countries of the Middle East by “the greatest number of countries interested in the peace and stability of the area.”
The Israeli Foreign Minister’s warning came after she had met with Selwyn Lloyd, the British Foreign Secretary, in a long exchange of views which was officially described as “useful.” Israel circles here stressed the significance of the meeting as the first tine that Anglo-Israel relations had been discussed on so high a level. The 90-minute meeting at the Foreign Office was followed by a luncheon tendered by Mr. Lloyd at Carlton Gardens, the Foreign Secretary’s official residence.
According to the official communique, the two foreign ministers discussed problems “of interest to the two countries, particularly those of the Middle East,” but it is understood that Mrs. Meir made a strong plea for arms for Israel, particularly anti-submarine equipment capable of dealing with the submarines Col. Nasser recently received from the Soviet Union.
In calling for international guarantees of the boundaries of Middle Eastern countries, Mrs. Meir said the situation called for guarantees to be given all independent countries and stressed that this should certainly include Israel. In this, Mrs. Meir was referring to proposals advanced last week by United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold for guarantees by Arab States of each other’s territorial integrity without reference to Israel.
She said in response to questions on the utility of the 1950 Tripartite Declaration that the changed situation in Jordan and Lebanon and the annexation of Syria by Nasser’s United Arab Republic concurred to make the 1950 declaration “not sufficient.” The United Nations Charter, she added, could not adequately protect the territorial integrity of Middle Eastern states. “The most the General Assembly can do,” she remarked, “is to vote a resolution without having the power to implement it.”
Annexation of Jordan by the United Arab Republic, Mrs. Meir declared, “would constitute a grave and dangerous menace for Israel.” In the situation that would follow, she pointed out, the United Arab Republic would control all of Israel’s borders and even Israel’s “last friendly frontier, the Mediterranean,” through its recently augmented submarine fleet. Israel has appealed to all friendly countries for arms with which to parry the Nasser submarine menace, Mrs. Meir disclosed.
Replying to questions about airlifts across Israel territory to supply British forces in Jordan, Mrs. Meir said the airlift was “finished.” She made it clear, however, that Israel, as a member of the United Nations, would consider a demand by the United Nations for transport of a United Nations force across Israel territory.
Mr. Lloyd was on hand at London Airport at eight o’clock this morning to greet Mrs. Meir on her arrival from Rome–the first time a ranking member of an Israeli Government came here at the invitation of the British Government for political talks. To reporters, Mrs. Meir expressed her joy at being in England and expressed the hope that “my talks with the Foreign Secretary will be fruitful and will help in bringing to the Middle East peace and stability.”
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.
