High sources in the State Department today stressed the fact that the United States does not see eye to eye with Britain on the territorial “compromise” proposal made by British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden to Israel, involving reference to the 1947 Palestine partition plan.
The differences between the State Department view and that indicated by the British Prime Minister was described here today as being based on a belief that the Eden proposal is “out of date.” It was pointed out that the 1947 partition plan, while giving a portion of the Galilee to the Arabs, leaves the Negev in Israel hands.
The “live question” today, it was indicated in State Department circles, does not pertain to the Galilee, but is based on providing Egypt with a face-saving device in connection with the Negev. A land link across the Negev connecting Egypt with Jordan was mentioned as a possibility.
In the opinion of high State Department officials, Egypt’s hostility toward Israel is based largely on Egypt’s “loss of face” in the eyes of other Arab states owing to the military defeat suffered by Egypt in the Negev in 1948. Today Egypt feels Isolated” from the rest of the Arab bloc. There is a desire in the State Department to find a “realistic” formula for peace agreeable to Egypt and Israel to offset growing Soviet influence in Egypt.
STATE DEPARTMENT HAS OWN TERRITORIAL “COMPROMISE” FOR ISRAEL
The State Department thinks that the British Prime Minister was “unrealistic” in citing the 1947 plan. The territorial “compromise” envisaged by the State Department is described as more closely related to the situation existing today. Citing Israel’s repeated requests for a U.S. security guaranty of its boundaries, officials pointed to the prerequisites mentioned by Secretary Dulles in his August 26 speech, especially a reference to prior agreement on boundaries. Mr. Dulles was quoted as stating, in connection with boundary revision, that “the difficulty is increased by the fact that even territory which is barren has acquired a sentimental significance.”
(The New York Times today reported from Washington that State Department officials are “irritated” at the repeated assertions by British Foreign Office spokesmen that Secretary Dulles approved Eden’s proposal. These officials, according to the Times, explain that British Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan read to Mr. Dulles only a few key paragraphs from Mr. Eden’s speech of November 9 which contained the reference to the 1947 partition plan. “Secretary Dulles commented that of course it was desirable that a settlement be reached, but that he did not think the references to the 1947 partition plan were fortunate. His position in effect was that the 1947 partition in many respects were obsolete as a basis for Arab-Israeli negotiations,” the State Department officials told the Times.)
The White House announced today that Prime Minister Eden will arrive in Washington January 30 to hold talks with President Eisenhower. Diplomatic sources predicted that the talks would cover Arab-Israel peace. The main objective of the meeting is to plan strategy to counter Soviet moves in the Middle East and South Asia. British Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan and, probably, British Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs Evelyn Shuckburgh will accompany the Prime Minister.
Israel Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett will meet with Secretary Dulles tomorrow to discuss current developments.
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