Fao Conference Postpones Vote on Israeli Membership; Gives Jewish State Observer States

A plenary meeting of the fourth annual conference of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization adjourned this afternoon without voting on an application for membership submitted by the Government of Israel.

The Israeli application had been placed on the agenda this morning over the objections of Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan who maintained that it would be “premature” to consider the Israeli application while the whole Palestine issue was still under consideration by the General Assembly in Paris.

The Israeli application has been referred to the F.A.O. general committee which will make a recommendation on it to the full conference. Final action requiring a two-thirds vote for approval must come in the plenary session of the conference. The next plenary session is scheduled for next Monday afternoon. An informed source told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency this afternoon, however, that it was doubtful that the general committee would act on the Israeli application before the early part of next week. Israel was officially admitted as an observer to the conference at this afternoon’s meeting.

Israel is represented at the conference by Dr. Ludwig Samuels, Israel Government export an agriculture and marketing research. He has been in the United States for several months as coordinator of Israel’s food purchasing missions in this country.

An Israel spokesman said here today that Israel is not basing her application for F.A.O. membership on any political grounds. “The F.A.O. controls scares food supplies and allocations of those world supplies. In the interest of the health and comfort of 750,000 or 800,000 Jewish inhabitants of Israel we must be able to Join with F.A.O. in working out world food problems,” he declared. Otherwise, he said, Israel would be forced to “scout around” for her food imports, taking the chance of short supplies and high prices.