Gromyko Blasts Israel at U.n.; Feels Israel Would Not Attack Jordan

Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko savagely attacked Israel today as a tool of the Western Powers, when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly. But at the same time, he ridiculed the possibility of an Israel attack on Jordan, except with Western approval.

The Soviet delegate brought Israel into his slashing diatribe against the United States and Britain by asserting that an Israeli attack on Jordan was advanced as one of the reasons why the British troops could not be withdrawn from the Hashemite Kingdom. His entire speech was a rejection of Anglo-American commitments to withdraw their troops from Lebanon and Jordan and of those parts of the Secretary General’s report to the General Assembly which accepted the Western commitments in good faith.

Mr. Gromyko’s main contention was that the Western Powers had failed to obey the resolution of the Special General Assembly and had no intention of doing so. He demanded that their failure be put on the agenda of this session as a separate item for debate.

GOLDA MEIR TO ANSWER GROMYKO’S ASPERSIONS AT U. N. ASSEMBLY

Mrs. Golda Meir, the Israel Foreign Minister, is expected to take note of the Gromyko aspersions when she addresses the Assembly next Tuesday. Henry Cabot Lodge, head of the American delegation, in a brief reply to Gromyko at today’s Assembly session, called his speech “mere billingsgate.” He said:

“Mr. Gromyko has not offered one scintilla of proof of one single thing that he has said. The speech was straight, unadulterated villification. It is mere billingsgate. It is abuse with a sinister, ulterior motive. Speeches of this kind make a travesty of the United Nations. They reveal all too clearly Mr. Gromyko’s contempt for the United Nations. It insults the intelligence of the members.”

Mr. Gromyko, in his abusive speech, claimed that Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold displayed “artifically generated optimism” in his report on the intended withdrawal of the American forces from Lebanon and the British forces from Jordan. He charged the two democratic powers with “practicing obstruction” with regard to such withdrawal. Injecting Israel in his address, he declared:

“It still happens sometimes that it is pointed out that in the event of British troops leaving Jordan the latter will be faced with the threat of being attacked by Israel. We believe that this version has sufficiently discredited itself as everyone understands that an attack by Israel against Jordan would in actual fact be an attack by the United States and the United Kingdom. Without their sanction and encouragement Israel certainly cannot even move a finger, but the repercussions of this version still make themselves felt, in view of which it would not be inopportune to say a few words on this score.

“If the United States and the United Kingdom continue to engage in intimidating Jordan by possible attack on the part of Israel this will mean that they are consciously resorting to this so as to complicate matters with regard to the withdrawal of troops. But in this case they assume full responsibility for the play-acting which they stage from time to time and in which the title role is given to Israel, “the Soviet Minister stated.