The State Department today assured a delegation of ten Arab League ambassadors that Israel Premier Ben-Gurion’s visit to Washington would not undermine the present American friendship for the Arabs. This was made known by the State Department after Secretary of State Christian Herter had met for 40 minutes with the Arab ambassadors. The State Department said that Premier Ben-Gurion would probably be received by Secretary Herter.
The Arabs warned Secretary Herter that the Ben-Gurion visit might damage American-Arab relations. The delegation presented a joint statement that said the visit “is likely to create consequences detrimental to American-Arab relations.”
Lebanese Ambassador Nadim Dimechkie, spokesman for the delegation, said the group told Secretary Herter of the Arabs’ “deep concern that what is supposed to be a private visit by Ben-Gurion might go beyond the declared purpose of the visit, and that it might be exploited to attain political as well as other objectives.”
The Arab representatives maintained that recent developments indicated that Israeli policy sought to bring about a deterioration in American-Arab relations. It was learned that the Arabs expressed concern over the possibility that the United States might respond to Israel’s request for authority to purchase American arms.
The delegation included Ambassadors from the United Arab Republic, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
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