The Government of Great Britain has lined up with the United States in its offer of treaty guarantees to the states of the Middle East if they can make a permanent settlement of borders. A Foreign Office statement hailed Mr. Dulles’ proposal with regard to borders as an “important contribution toward solution of the most critical, outstanding problem of the Middle East.”
The Foreign Office also stressed that Mr. Dulles’ address had followed earlier British recommendations in regard to the situation in that area. The British also indicated that they were willing to join in the proposed loan to Israel for Arab refugee compensation.
Authoritative sources here indicated that they did not view the proposals as definitive, but rather as a starting point for what they predicted would be long, drawn-out talks lasting months, and possibly years. They made it clear that they expected no overnight improvement in the Middle East situation and that, in fact, they were not even sure exactly what the next move should be. Some officials here pointed out that Dulles had done little more than repeat an earlier offer put forward by Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden in an address to the House of Commons, when he offered to guarantee any final settlement made by Israel and the Arab countries.
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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.
