Britain Supports Israel’s Right to Navigation Through the Gulf of Akaba

The British Government publicly announced today its support for maintenance of Israel’s right to navigation through the Gulf of Akaba. President Nasser of Egypt announced last night that his forces would not permit Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran which provide access from the Gulf of Akaba to the Red Sea and the East. The British declaration was made by the Foreign Office spokesman in reply to a question. “It has always been our view,” he asserted, “that the Straits of Tiran constitute an international waterway which should remain open to the ships of all nations.” Nasser has claimed that the narrow straits, less than two miles wide, were Egyptian territorial waters.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary George Brown said on a television news program that he had decided to postpone a scheduled visit to Moscow during the current Middle East crisis. Foreign Office sources said that the Foreign Secretary felt he must remain in London until the Middle East situation, both on the spot and in the United Nations became clearer. It was indicated that after he had an opportunity to review the situation, he might then undertake the Moscow trip but in a curtailed form.

Following the lead of France, the British diplomat hedged on Britain’s commitment to protect the Arab-Israeli borders in the 1950 Tripartite Agreement. He said that the agreement was 17 years old and that “changed conditions” required different methods. He added that he would not exclude British military intervention but that this was a “remote and unlikely” contingency and that if it did occur, it would take place only in conjunction with United Nations efforts in the area. He reiterated his criticism of U.N. Secretary-General U Thant for his hasty withdrawal of the U.N. Emergency Force from the Egyptian-Israeli border and declared he was working with other governments for some sort of U.N. presence in the area.

The Evening Standard, in an article by Jon Kimche, former editor of the Middle East Review, said that President Johnson sent a message to Soviet Premier Kosygin that the United States was fully committed to support Israel in maintaining the international character of the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Akaba. Kimche wrote that “this American commitment, the Russians and President Nasser of Egypt now know, embraces complete joint operational plans agreed to between the United States and Israel.”

Mr. Kimche asserted that the commitment was made in May, 1964 when President Johnson and Premier Levi Eshkol of Israel met in Washington for 30 minutes after all United States and Israeli aides had been asked to leave the meeting. “This was the first undertaking of its kind which was made not in general terms but based on specific arrangements in which the United States Sixth Fleet, now moving into the Eastern Mediterranean, was closely concerned,” the critic said.