Israel-Arab tensions continue to face the world as the most important problem in the Middle East, Selwyn Lloyd, Britain’s Foreign Minister, told the General Assembly here today. He backed John Foster Dulles, U. S. Secretary of State, in Mr. Dulles’ proposal to the Assembly last week that the Assembly should use a 1949 resolution dealing with the “Essentials for Peace” in an effort to halt the Soviet Union’s “indirect aggression” in the Near and Middle East.
“The Middle East is the area of greatest tension at the moment,” Mr. Lloyd declared. “The outstanding issue for nearly ten years has been the conflict between Israel and the neighboring Arab states. We have tried in all sincerity to promote a just and honorable settlement. We still believe that a just settlement of the tragic refugee problem is a primary element in a wider solution.”
The British Foreign Minister attacked the Soviet Union with a charge that Moscow’s entire purpose in the Middle East seemed to be “to perpetuate and not to reduce tension.” He returned to Israel’s early history at the United Nations to point out. that “it was the votes of the Soviet block that gave the necessary majority for the State of Israel to be created.” He also reminded the Assembly that “it was the Soviet block which first sent arms to Israel. He said that now the situation in Syria must be viewed with “grave concern.”
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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.
