Political sources expressed doubts today about the accuracy of President Eisenhower’s recollections of events preceding the 1956 Sinai campaign.
The President declared at his press conference yesterday that he had warned Abba Eban, then Israel Ambassador to the United States, that the Eisenhower Administration would oppose any resort to force by Israel, as well as by England and France.
The President said this warning was given to Mr. Eban at a meeting just before Israel sent its troops into the Sinai peninsula. Foreign Ministry sources here, however, said that they had no memory of a meeting between the President and Mr. Eban on the eve of the envoy’s departure from Washington to Jerusalem for consultations. Mr. Eban has declined comment on the President’s recollection.
Mr. Eban left Washington for Israel on October 12 or 13 in 1956 and there was no report at that time that he met with the President before his departure. The Sinai campaign was launched in October 1956.
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