“Israel should not give back one inch of territory without guarantees that her sovereignty will be recognized and her security assured,” Sen. Bob Packwood (R. Ore.) said here last night. The Senator addressed an audience of about 800 business leaders gathered at a dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to honor William M. Batten, chairman of the Board of the J. C. Penny Co. Batten was presented with the Americanism Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith by Seymour Graubard. ADL national chairman.
Denouncing Arab use of economic coercion. Packwood declared that “the United States will not be blackmailed into abandoning such allies as Israel–which has a right to exist–in exchange for oil from its enemies.” In this connection, the Senator forecast a new era in international politics in which natural resources such as oil, wheat and soy beans will be used as weapons in a fierce economic competition and he added that those nations unable to compete or who abandon allies will be relegated to second class national status.
Packwood stressed that even though a cease-fire may halt the firing, the United States must continue to supply Israel “with sufficient arms not only to defend herself but to negotiate for its peace and security from a position of parity.” At the same time, however, he also-warned that the United States should not attempt to impose its ideas upon the Middle East nations but should help create conditions enabling Arabs and Israelis to settle the dispute between them. “Any settlement that is unacceptable to any of the parties will not last,” he concluded.
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.
