George Thomson, British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, declared here today, at the conclusion of a tour of Middle Eastern capitals: “I view the Middle Eastern situation with much less concern than when I joined the Foreign Office. At that time, chances of an explosion looked much more serious to all of us.”
In a conversation with Deputy Prime Minister Abba Eban, he was reported to have said that the Arabs have been showing “more realism” of late and that “this might lead in time to their acceptance and possibly eventual recognition of Israel.”
Mr. Thomson told newsmen at Lydda Airport, just before his plane departed for London, that his visit to the Middle East indicated that his Government’s wishes “for a greater degree of understanding with the Arab countries in the area will never be at the expense of normal and friendly relations with Israel.”
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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.
