Prompt and vigorous action by the United States to compel compliance of the Arab-Israel armistice was urged today by the American Jewish Committee in a message to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. “Such action would prevent further bloodshed and would make it possible to fashion an enduring peace,” the message said.
The decision to address such an appeal to Secretary Dulles was taken at an emergency meeting of the top officers of the American Jewish Committee. The text of the appeal, made public by Irving M. Engel, president of the organization, emphasized that “mounting tension in the Middle East has now reached the grave stage where guerilla warfare virtually exists between the Arab states and Israel.”
The message pointed out that the United Nations machinery, established by the 1949 armistice agreements, has proven unable “to prevent the constant worsening of the situation.” It stressed the fact that the UN Security Council “has recently been rendered impotent by the Soviet Union’s deliberate use of its veto power to block constructive action, and it warned that “unless the underlying hostility responsible for these armed clashes is checked, the situation in the Middle East is likely to get out of control.” It then urged that the U.S. Government embark upon the following course:
“1. Continue economic aid to all nations of the Middle East so that the standard of living of Arabs and Israelis alike will be raised. Economic improvement will create conditions conducive to the development of stable governments and democratic institutions.
“2. Recognize that no military aid should now be given to any nation in this troubled area since armaments can only aggravate the present instability.
“3. Seek to strengthen the United Nations truce machinery so as to make it adequate to prevent further border clashes.
“4. Strengthen and expand–with the cooperation of Great Britain and France–the guarantees of the tripartite declaration of 1950, should the Soviet Union continue to block effective action by the United Nations.”
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