Revealing that the plan he submitted for a Jordan Valley Authority was unsatisfactory to Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, Ambassador Eric Johnston, President Eisenhower’s special envoy to the Near East, today announced that he would return to these countries next month to obtain suggestions for making another plan acceptable to the four countries.
“Our Jordan River plan is not the plan but a plan,” he said. He added that it could be modified, but warned that if Israel and Jordan go their separate ways and undertake public works within their boundaries unilaterally, there will again be conflict. The nation which would suffer most from the other’s diversion of water would probably sabotage the project, there would be reprisals and “at the worst” renewed military conflict, he said. He spoke at the conference of the American Christian Committee for Palestine now taking place here.
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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.
