Ambassador Abba Eban, accompanied by Foreign Minister Golda Meir, appeared today before the Israel Parliamentary Committee on Security and Foreign Affairs and reported on the status of American-Israel relations and on United States policy in the Middle East. Also present at the session was Reuven Shiloah, former Israeli Minister at the Washington Embassy, who recently returned to this country after completion of his tour of duty.
The Knesset committee was informed of the progress of discussions within the Foreign Ministry on problems expected to be raised at the forthcoming Twelfth regular United Nations General Assembly, as well as general Middle East developments.
No hard and fast line has been achieved yet on Syrian developments, it was reported. No Israeli line on Syria is expected here until after the United States makes known its policy on Syria’s drift leftward.
(At his press conference in Washington today, Secretary Dulles said that Syria’s neighbors were “greatly alarmed” over what is going on in that Arab country including the “pumping of large quantities of Soviet arms” into the country. Mr. Dulles said that Loy Henderson, State Department specialist who is now in the Middle East consulting various governments on the Syrian developments, would shortly go to Lebanon, but expressed doubts that he would visit Syria or Egypt.)
The Israeli foreign service experts have laid particular stress in their policy meetings on the Middle East questions which are held certain to be raised at the UN session, including: the future of the Arab refugees, the question of the continued existence of the UN Emergency Force stationed in Egypt, and, possibly, questions dealing with North African developments.
The discussion within the Knesset committee today also touched briefly on problems which do not affect Israel directly but upon which Israel as a member of the United Nations will have to take a position at the General Assembly. The line which the Israel delegation will take on such issues was sketched in briefly.
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