Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion today completed his state visit to France by voicing praise for the “will for peace” displayed by leaders of the free world–President Eisenhower, President Charles de Gaulle of France, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of Great Britain, and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of the West German, Republic. He is leaving tomorrow for Brussels, Belgium.
“I do not say that the leaders of the Communist countries do not have an equal will for peace, ” he added, “I have not met them to judge their sentiments. ” He added that Israel remained ready to meet Arab leaders and to discuss with them all problems, including the Arab refugee problem, without any prior conditions.
At a luncheon given in his honor earlier this weekend by the French diplomatic press association, Mr. Ben-Gurion expressed hope that peace with the Arabs would come eventually. In reply to a question, he said he did not rule out a confederation with the Arab states, adding that “in such a climate, we might be able to cooperate with our neighbors in the political, economic, social and cultural fields for the good of the entire region. ” The principal needed, he said, was a desire for peace. Only then, he added, can a solution “to all problems be found.”
The Prime Minister strongly defended Israel’s stand that it is “morally and legally entitled” to try Adolf Eichmann for the crimes he committed against the Jewish people as Hitler’s specialist in mass murder.
Replying to questions at the luncheon, he said that, while Israel did not exist as a state when Eichmann committed his crimes, “it existed in the hearts of the Jewish people. Israel is the only country which can judge a man who deliberately Killed 6,000,000 Jews.”
Speaking in forceful tones, the Prime Minister said there was no opposition between Justice and law in Israel’s plans for Eichmann because “justice is the superior form of legislation. ” He added that not only would Eichmann’s trial in an Israel court not violate any law, but that it would serve the interests of historic Justice.
“No man with a conscience can deny that it is the duty of the Jewish State to try a man accused of such crimes against the Jewish nation, ” he declared. He expressed confidence that the Nazi criminal, whose right to a lawyer of his own choosing has been acknowledged, would be tried “in a just way” according to the procedure of Israeli courts.
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