President Eisenhower is expected to express his views on the Arab-Israel situation in a major foreign policy address to be delivered in Washington April 21 before the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
The White House would not specially confirm that the President would examine the current Near Eastern crisis, but sources close to the President indicated he planned to go into that subject at some length.
Sen. Mike Mansfield, Montana Democrat, said today the Eisenhower statement on the Israel-Egyptian situation yesterday was” a restatement of the obvious.” He questioned its value. Senate sources said the reference in the statement to action “within constitutional means.” could be interpreted as indicating the President would not use U.S. forces. Commitment of such forces would require Congressional approval under the Constitution. State Department sources said the definition of “aggression” and fixing of responsibility would be a task for the United Nations.
Strong Congressional opposition to President Eisenhower’s present stand on Israel’s arms request was predicted today by Rep. Emanuel Celler. The New York Democrat said he was “positive that a goodly portion of Congress will not stand idly by, supine and voiceless, while the Administration remains bankrupt of a Middle East policy.”
Rep. Celler charged that the Administration’s position of denying arms to Israel, while approving them from Great Britain and France has a “tinge of hypocrisy.” He said that “it is unbecoming for the United States to hide behind the skirts of her allies, and herself refuse to take a strong arms stand.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
