The Israel Government may be informed tomorrow of the details of President Eisenhower’s new Middle East policy which he outlined yesterday at a White House session with a group of leading Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
Israel has sought clarification of Mr. Eisenhower’s lan, but has not yet received official word of it through diplomatic channels. However, Israel Ambassador Abba Eban is calling at the State Department tomorrow and it is anticipated that he may be given details there on the Eisenhower proposal.
Secretary of State John. Foster Dulles is meeting late today with Congressional leaders on the new Eisenhower plan to check Soviet penetration into the Middle East and to ask Congress for stand-by authority for the use of U. S. armed forces against the Soviets in lat area. Mr. Dulles will also discuss with the Congressional leaders the current situation in the Middle East.
EISENHOWER DOCTRINE CONSIDERS ARAB-ISRAEL PROBLEM A SEPARATE ISSUE
High State Department sources today said that the Eisenhower Doctrine, to be spelled out in the next few days in a special Presidential message to Congress, envisages the Arab-Israel question as a separate issue whose solution through the United Nations might be facilitated by the shielding of the entire region against Russian aggression. The same sources made it clear that the Eisenhower Doctrine is such a broad concept in world strategy it does not concern itself directly with the Arab-Israel conflict.
Rather, according to these sources, the Eisenhower Doctrine is a parallel American move to the pursuit of internal Middle Eastern peace by the United Nations apparatus. Arab-Israel friction was portrayed as outside the scope of the broader approach to be taken in the new undertaking.
State Department authorities said the economic aspects of the plan were still fluid and hinged on the plan’s advancement and cooperation by various Middle Eastern nations. Israel, it was said, was not excluded and could apply for economic benefits if it meets the developing prerequisites.
STATE DEPT. INSISTS ON ISRAEL’S WITHDRAWAL BEHIND THE 1949 LINES
State Department sources also stated today that the Department does not consider Israel passage through either the Gulf of Akaba or the Suez Canal to be issues of primary concern at this time, holding that Israel should first comply with the November 2 United Nations resolution calling for Israel troop withdrawal behind the 1949 armistice lines.
These sources reported that the United States hopes that Israel complies with the resolution in accordance with what is described have as a promissory letter sent by Israel Premier Ben Gurion to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold. If this were done, according to these sources, the United States would act on its desire that other problems–fedayeen raids and the issues of Suez and Akaba passage–be examined peacefully in the framework of the United Nations.
If America were to accept the attachment by Israel of any conditions to the withdrawal of Israel forces, U. S. officials said, such acceptance would weaken the U.S. position. Officials stress the fact that the United States was a main force behind the November 2 resolution and therefore insists on its unconditional implementation. Asked about Egyptian compliance with the same resolution, State Department sources avoided comment. Egypt has continued fedayeen activities in defiance of the resolution.
U.S. Point Four aid missions have not been returned to Israel or Egypt because the State Department considers the situation as not yet sufficiently “tranquil.” Therefore aid to those countries remains, in effect, suspended. U.S. officials put forth a view that troop withdrawal by Israel and Suez Canal clearance cooperation by Egypt would contribute toward the desired tranquillity. Such moves might facilitate resumption of the aid program, officials suggested.
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