Diplomatic Relations Severed Between United States, Egypt

The State Department announced today that the United States had severed diplomatic relations with Egypt as a “reciprocal” action following notice that President Nasser had withdrawn recognition of the United States. Syria and Algeria also announced they had broken off relations with the United States.

The diplomatic developments followed a series of wild charges by Egypt that American and British planes had assisted the Israeli Air Force in battles yesterday and had provided an air screen over Israel. Both Washington and London indignantly denied the charge and said Nasser had put it out as a cover-up for the humiliating Arab rout.

American policy on the Middle East came in for increasing criticism in Congress today as members of both parties called for American aid and support to Israel. Israel’s outstanding victories changed the nature of the criticisms from the question of American guarantees of Israel’s territorial integrity to the question of protecting Israel’s gains.

Sen. Hugh Scott, Pa. Rep., keynoted this approach when he told the Senate today that “I hope the United States, in its protestations of being a neutral, will not be a party to negotiating away any of those rights that the Israelis may establish through their own military efforts.”

Sen. Jacob K. Javits, N.Y. Rep., said that a United Nations cease-fire resolution must require not only that the Strait of Tiran but also the Suez Canal be open to Israeli shipping. A U.N. resolution, he said, must involve more than an armistice but should involve “a permanent peace in the Middle East.”

Rep. Emanuel Celler, N.Y. Dem., who is dean of the House, said that while Western nations shirked responsibility for dealing with Egypt, “Israel fights alone and fights valiantly.” He said that to ask Israel to surrender any of the territory she had fought for would be “grotesque.”