Britain Cannot Recognize Israel’s Present Borders, Minister Says

Britain will not extend a treaty to Israel at this time, Minister of State Anthony Nutting told the House of Commons today, because to do so “would be committing this country to permanent recognition of a frontier which is not an agreed frontier, which results from an armistice not a peace treaty, and a frontier which is opposed by all the Arab nations.”

Such action on the part of the British Government would be the “biggest step” that could be taken away from a peace settlement, Mr. Nutting argued during a Parliamentary debate on the Middle East situation. He professed to be unable to see any guarantee for Israel which would be firmer than the Tripartite Declaration of 1950.

The Minister of State insisted that up to now there had been arms balance in the Middle East, although he was willing to grant that the balance might be upset in “due course” as a result of Communist deliveries to Arab states. But that situation has not arrived, he said, adding that “we and our allies are convinced that the safety of Israel lies not in entering a arms race”–because this might end up with Israel surrounded by hostile Arab states armed to the teeth–but in “establishing normal relations with her neighbors.”

He was immediately challenged by Hugh Gaitskell, chairman of the Labor Party, who asserted that the prospects of an Arab-Israel settlement were less probable now than ever before. The refusal to sell Israel arms, he said, was reminiscent of the “non-intervention” policy followed when Spain was fighting her civil war.

Mr. Gaitskell demanded that the ban on Israel arms purchases be lifted and that Israel be allowed to buy enough arms to balance those being received by the Arab states in plain fact, ” he said, “that means Centurions (heavy tanks) and modern fighters.” He further demanded that the government give “serious” consideration to an Israel treaty and that the Russians be brought into the Middle East discussions.