The Israel Embassy here today released the full text of the declaration made in Tel Aviv yesterday by Foreign Minister Sharett warning the Western Powers to discontinue sending arms to the Arab countries. The text reads:
“The Government of Israel must express serious disquiet at reports concerning deliveries of arms by leading Western Powers to certain Arab states, primarily Egypt.
“The Arab states in question insist that they are at war with Israel. Only a few weeks ago they strenuously resisted the attempt made by a group of disinterested powers to. secure the passage of a resolution in the General Assembly of the United Nations aiming at the establishment of peace in the Middle East. They maintain by boycott and blockade an active system of economic warfare against Israel.
“In so acting they openly flout fundamental provisions of the United Nations Charter enjoining upon all member states the pursuit of peace and the resort to peaceful methods of resolving international conflicts. Egypt particularly has been guilty of wanton interference with the legitimate traffic of goods to Israel through the Sues Canal, in flagrant disregard of a clear injunction of the Security Council.
“At the same time, the Government of Israel is not aware of an expression of readiness by any of the Arab Governments concerned to undertake obligations in defense of democracy either in each particular country or in the region as a whole The regimes prevailing in most of these countries and the upheavals by which they have been recently convulsed leave much room for doubt whether the maintenance of democratic institution is a vital concern of their rulers.
“In all these circumstances, the placing at this juncture of additional and important arms in the hands of Arab governments, far from being conducive to the advent of peace and stability to the region, constitutes a menace to Israel’s security, whilst offering no assured prospect of strengthening the area’s defensive capacity against the dangers of outside aggression.
“The present departure is at variance with the declaration jointly issued by the Governments of the United States, United Kingdom and France on May 25, 1950 which set its face against the development of an arms race between Israel and her Arab neighbors and which implied the maintenance of a fair defense equilibrium between them. The reported sales or grants of arms to the Arab states are liable seriously to upset the balance to Israel’s detriment, to lead to an arms race, and thus to nullify the moral and practical effect of the assurances contained in the tripartite declaration.
“The Government of Israel must utter a serious warning against this policy, so clearly damaging to Israel’s security and to the interests of regional and world peace.”
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