The conclusion of an agreement between Israel and Britain for the delivery of crude oil to Haifa has dealt a heavy blow to the Arab League boycott of the Jewish state, the Christian Science Monitor declared today in an article on the oil relations of Britain and the Middle East countries.
On the positive side of the ledger, the Monitor points out that the agreement will save Israel $3,000,000 by its not having to import oil stocks for which it must pay in foreign currency. The Haifa plant, valued at $100,000,000 has an annual output capacity–at present prices–of $50,000,000. Despite British and American deliveries of crude oil the plant is not expected to operate at more than one-fourth of its capacity.
The Monitor article declares that the Anglo-Israel agreement “shows that London now is taking a ‘realistic’ view of conditions in the Middle East and is prepared to defy Arab resentment. It ends months of tedious talks with the Iraqi Government, in which Britain tried to convince Arab leaders that reopening the Haifa pipe line would be in the general interest.”
The newspaper says that there is speculation, “coming from generally reliable sources,” that the British oil companies may ship crude oil from their wells in Latin America.
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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.
