Presidents of 17 major American Jewish organizations met here today for emergency deliberations on the threat of United Nations sanctions against Israel in the UN deadlock over Israeli final withdrawal from Sinai.
The conference issued a call to all synagogues in the United States to arrange for prayers during the coming Sabbath, invoking divine aid for U.S. Government leaders against error in their consideration of sanctions against Israel.
The call was issued in response to a plea for such action made to the conference by congregational organizations of American Jewry, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the United Synagogue of America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
The American Jewish Congress today appealed to President Eisenhower to oppose sanctions on Israel. It would be “morally unjustified,” the AJC maintained, if this nation “acquiesced in any United Nations proposal to penalize Israel by sanctions or otherwise for its insistence upon specific guarantees of security.”
United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold awaited a reply from Israel today on whether it will withdraw its armed forces unconditionally from the Gaza and Akaba areas, whether it will recall its administration from Gaza, and whether it will permit United Nations troops to be stationed on Israel’s side of the demarcation line.
Mr. Hammarskjold told Israel Ambassador Abba Eban last night that clarification of these points is a prerequisite to further consideration of a memorandum presented to him Monday by Ambassador Eban. In this memorandum the Israel Government requested the Secretary General “to ask the Government of Egypt whether Egypt agrees to the mutual and full abstention from belligerent acts, by land, air and sea, on withdrawal of Israel troops.”
Leading delegations here declared today that they were certain that the General Assembly would meet Monday on the Israel-Egypt situation. The Afro-Asian bloc met this afternoon, presumably to discuss a draft resolution which the Arab bloc wants introduced to obtain economic sanctions against Israel.
The stalemate between Israel’s delegation and Mr. Hammarskjold continued unchanged during the day. Israel has not answered some of the questions posed by Mr. Hammarskjold. On the other hand, Israel’s key question, as to whether Egypt would declare its willingness to conduct a policy of non-belligerence, has as yet elicited no answer from Mr. Hammarskjold. It was ascertained today that the Secretary General has not even put the question about non-belligerence to Egypt’s representatives here.
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