BRITISH PARLIAMENT DEBATES ISRAEL-JORDAN SITUATION
A full-scale debate on the Israel-Jordan situation took place in the House of Commons today when Laborite M.P. Arthur Henderson undertook to question Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Selwyn Lloyd on the British Government’s position at the Security Council, which today again debated the Palestine question.
Mr. Lloyd told the House that “our primary objective in the current Security Council debate is to work out measures which will reduce tension between Jordan and Israel by preventing more incidents and by restoring to use the armistice machinery.” On this basis, he stressed, the government did not exclude the possibility of instructing its representative at the United Nations to propose in the Security Council that Israel and Jordan be invited to high level talks on the basis of the existing armistice pact.
This last suggestion was supported by Mr. Henderson, who also wanted Britain to suggest to the Security Council that the observer staff in Palestine be increased substantially. Mr. Lloyd promised that the government would keep the suggestion in mind during discussions of methods for reducing tension.
Mr. Lloyd said that it was his impression that the observer staff had recently been increased from 19 to 32. Conservative deputy Godfrey Nicholson commented dryly that the more United Nations observers there were in Palestine, the more incidents there seemed to be among the parties concerned. Mr. Lloyd said he felt the difficulty in the present situation was that the UN truce staff observed what happened after it had transpired. The problem of how to prevent such occurrences, he repeated, was still under consideration.
Queried by Capt. L. Duncan, Conservative, who noted that border incidents were not restricted to Jordan but also affected Egypt, the Minister said that the matter before the Security Council dealt with more than the situation between Jordan and Israel.
Laborite Thomas Reid asked what specific arrangements for defense arising out of the Anglo-Jordan Treaty had recently been entered into with Jordan. Mr. Lloyd replied that in line with that treaty the two governments consulted regularly the last meeting having been held last month at Amman. He refused, however, to make known any details of that meeting.
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