Great Britain will not support any plan for Jerusalem which is not acceptable to Israel, a British delegation source here disclosed today.
At the same time, British and American delegation sources independently revealed that they will not support any of Egypt’s attempts to obtain a Security Council order for immediate demilitarization of Jerusalem.
Both parties said they were not consulted in advance on the Egyptian move which they regarded as a piece-meal approach and possibly an effort to jockey the Western powers into strong action which they are not ready to take. It is their view that the question of demilitarization beyond the armistice agreement should be discussed in the Political committee as part of the proposal of the Conciliation Commission.
On the internationalization statute itself, the U.S. is open to compromise to meet Israel objections. British thinking goes further and now insists that the internationalization formula is “a theoretical solution.” The British say they value highly Israel’s good will and the steadily improving relations with the Jewish state. Therefore, they will support any compromise plan which has the acceptance of both parties. In short, this means an ultimate decision must be acceptable also to Israel.
Thus the major problem for the Israel delegation in the Assembly is the more rigid American position. To the extent to which British influence can away the approaching debate, the picture for the Israel delegation now looks much brighter.’
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