Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold declared here today that he has taken a definite stand on Israel’s dispute with the United Arab Republic regarding the halting of ships carrying Israel-originated cargoes through the Suez Canal. He implied also that he favors final settlement by the International Court of Justice of the Israeli-Egyptian dispute on freedom of shipping through the Suez Canal.
These points were made by the Secretary General at his press conference at which he was asked whether he had considered tackling the Suez issue on his own initiative under United Nations rules that give the Secretary General the authority to initiate action.
“I have much more than considered it,” he replied. “I have taken a stand. But, so far, it is not for publication. There are two reasons for this, which I hope you will appreciate. In the first place, the issue is still in negotiation. Secondly, as Mr. Ben Gurion said yesterday, the facts are not sufficiently known.”
At bottom of the Suez issue, he said, is “a legal issue, ” involving the impact of the Egyptian-Israeli Armistice Agreement of 1949 and the unilateral declaration on operation of the Canal made by the United Arab Republic in 1957. There is “little difference,” he added, between the U. A. R. ‘s 1957 declaration on operation of the Canal and the Constantinople Convention of 1888 providing for free passage through the Suez Canal.
Declaring that the U. N. Security Council “is no court of law” and that is why he favors the handling of the Israel-Egyptian Suez dispute by the International Court of Justice, Mr. Hammarskjold said: “It is up to the parties to accept arbitration. There is little willingness, so far, being shown by the parties to take legal action. The difference between me and them is — they stress the political phase, while I stress the legal phase. He denied that he had written to Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben Gurion asking him “to lie low” on the current Suez dispute.
Later today, Joseph Tekoah, Israel’s acting permanent representative here, held a half-hour conference with Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, U.N. Undersecretary for Political Affairs, on the issue of freedom of shipping through the Suez Canal. The conference was held at Dr. Bunche’s suggestion.
Dr. Bunche visited both Cairo and Jerusalem, this spring, after the February and March incidents of Egyptian confiscation of Israel goods attempting transit through the Suez Canal.
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