Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold’s peace mission to the Middle East has resulted in certain positive achievements, but the agreements he has obtained “must be tested in practice” by the Arab states. Mordecal R. Kidron, deputy chairman of the Israel delegation to the UN, declared here today.
Mr. Kidron, who had left for a vacation in Israel on March 16–nearly three weeks before Mr. Hammarskjold left on his peace mission–returned here today, about an hour after the Secretary-General’s return. Mr. Kidron sat in, while in Israel, on all the conversations between the UN chief and Premier David Ben Gurion and Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett.
“The Secretary General,” Mr. Kidron declared, “set out to do certain things, most important of which was his obtaining a cease-fire from all five governments concerned, Israel and the four Arab states signatory to the armistice agreements. But this is a series of agreements on paper and by word of mouth. How firm these agreements are depend on Israel’s neighbors.
“Mr. Hammarskjold has made a considerable accomplishment. But the same dangers that existed before his mission exist today. Ultimate optimism depends on how the agreements are translated into action on Israel’s borders. We have great admiration for Mr. Hammarskjold. He left those who had the opportunity of sitting with him around a conference table impressed with. his great diplomatic skill his tenacity, his tact.”
Israel has been, right along, less tense than most people around the United Nations realize, Mr. Kidron added. “In our country,” he stated, “life goes on. We are working, building, doing what we can.”
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