Secretary of State Dulles today refused to comment before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on what the Administration thought of the imbalance of armed strength between Israel and the Arabs caused by the flow of Communist arms to Egypt.
This question was put to Mr. Dulles by Sen. H. Alexander Smith of New Jersey when the Secretary appeared before the committee to testify on the Administration’s foreign aid request. Mr. Dulles, referring to the Israel arms question, said he had nothing to add to what he had previously testified before the committee in an appearance earlier this year.
Secretary Dulles, in response to questions about U.S. financing of the Egyptian high Aswan dam, said that cultivable land created by the project would be suitable for fruits and vegetables rather than cotton. The Aswan project had been questioned by U.S. Senators concerned that it might increase Egyptian cotton production to the detriment of American cotton. Mr. Dulles spoke favorably of the Aswan undertaking.
The possibility of international control or embargo of arms to the Middle East may be discussed at Paris by Secretary Dulles with the British and French Foreign Ministers. He leaves tomorrow for a NATO session in Paris. He will seek a formula for testing the Russian concept of a general embargo on arms for the Middle East nations.
Jacob Blaustein, honorary president of the American Jewish Committee, had a conference last Thursday with Secretary Dulles during which he discussed the situation in the Middle East and Israel’s security problems, it was learned today. Mr. Blaustein also reviewed the Middle East situation with the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Edward B. Lawson, who is in Washington for consultations with the Department of State.
State Department circles today cited Egyptian Premier Nasser’s alleged cooperation with United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold as proof of the wisdom of the idea of avoiding friction by continued inaction on Israel’s arms request. These circles hold that Israel’s best interests are served by peace moves like that of Mr. Hammarskjold rather than U.S. sales of arms. It is felt by some government officials that the peak of the Israel arms purchase campaign has been passed and that the Administration has successfully set the issue aside.
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