Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Britain May Offer Small Arms to Israel; Seeks to Justify Sale of Arms to Arabs

June 14, 1949
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Britain might be willing to ship Israel the same quantities of small arms which it will soon deliver to Arab states “to insure the internal stability of the regimes of these countries,” authoritative British circles today indicated. However, it is considered unlikely that Israel would request such deliveries since it manufactures its own small arms.

These same authoritative quarters insist that shipment of small arms to Arab states does not mean lifting of the U.N. embargo, since the latter move would open the door to the Arab demands for other weapons whose delivery is guaranteed by existing treaties between Britain and these states. These sources also state that they never claimed that Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, U.N. acting mediator for Palestine, had authorized the shipments, but only that he had been consulted.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement