Both the Conservative government and the Labor Party in Parliament today welcomed the Soviet statement of yesterday on the Arab-Israel issue However, Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd made it clear in Parliament that the Soviet offer “requires careful study.” White the statement includes some “evident misstatements and inconsistencies,” its emphasis on the need to preserve peace and to reach an Arab-Israel settlement was welcome. Mr. Lloyd said.
Emanuel Shinwell, member of the last Labor Government, declared that “all of us on this side of the House welcome the Russian declaration and hope it will lead to a satisfactory conclusion as a result of further consultations.” His reference to consolations was obviously pointed at the forthcoming talks between British Government leaders and Soviet Premier Nikolai Fulganin and Communist Party chief Nikita-Khrushchev, who arrived here today for a ten-day visit.
As the debate on the Arab-Israel issue continued, Mr. Lloyd said that the British Government associated itself with President Eisenhower’s recent statement that the United States would assist any nation in the Middle East which was a victim of aggression. He added that the British Government had not changed its views on the Tripartite Declaration, nor was he aware that either of the two other signatories had changed their views.
He refused to indicate in advance what methods the British Government would use to carry out its obligations under the declaration. He did note, however, that Mr. Eisenhower’s emphasis on action within the United Nations did not remove the possibility of action outside that body. At another point he indicated he favored a UN solution.
Asked by Laborites about permitting the export of arms to Israel, Mr. Lloyd insisted that there is no current ban on the supply of arms to Israel or the neighboring Arab states. In authorizing particular consignments the government have regard for their obligations under the Tripartite Declaration. At another point in the debate, he responded to a request to authorize arms shipments to Israel by again referring to the tripartite document’s mention of the desire of the signatories to avoid an arms race in the Middle East.
When a Labor MP insisted that under the present circumstances the only road to security for Israel lay in acquiring arms and that Britain was under moral obligation to supply them, Mr. Lloyd declared: “I have always taken the view that it should be our purpose to preserve a balance. It would be dangerous to lead either side to believe that its only hope of safety was through arms.”
The Foreign Secretary rejected a proposal–from a Conservative–that Britain seek Western talks with Israel and the Arab states including Egypt. He said that this “might cause more complications rather than fewer.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
