Reports from Washington quoting the State Department as saying that the Middle East arms race is not yet affected by the huge amount of arms which the United States and Britain have agreed to furnish to Arab countries, have provoked sharp reaction here.
Officials of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, in commenting on these reports, said today: “Western arms supplies to the Arab states force the arms race in the Middle East upward, and force Israel to take measures to increase her deterrent power,”
The officials pointed out that both Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which are to receive Western arms shipments, belong to the Unified Arab Command. The sale of British and American arms to these countries, the officials stated, “places a still bigger burden upon Israel.” Even if the Middle East arms balance is “still unimpaired today,” the statement continued, “Israel must immediately prepare for the situation to exist a few years hence, when increased Arab forces will be operational.”
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