Ambassador Eliahu Elath of Israel declared tonight that his country was determined to safeguard its interests by addition of more specific safeguards to existing international guaranties for preservation of peace in the Middle East and by strengthening the country’s ability to defend itself from physical attack.
Mr. Elath’s declaration, made in an address before the Anglo-Israeli Club, stressed Israel’s desire to work with the United Nations in preventing a new outbreak of war in the Middle East, charged the Kingdom of Jordan with responsibility for the present situation, and warned against supply of arms to Egypt and other Arab states as long as they refused to make peace.
The Ambassador told the gathering in his honor that in view of “possible fresh developments which may radically affect Israel’s security,” the government and people of the Jewish State were determined “to see her interests safeguarded both by the addition of more specific provisions to the existing international guaranties with regard to preservation of peace in the area, and also by strengthening Israel’s own physical capacity for self-defense in case the guaranties to be eventually obtained fail to prevent surprise attack from a neighboring country which refuses to consider peace with Israel.”
Mr. Elath added that while Israel was prepared to cooperate with the United Nations authorities to prevent the situation from getting completely out of hand, “it is only proper to make it clear that Jordan, while she refuses to meet her obligations under the armistice agreement, must carry the main responsibility for continuance of the present unhappy conditions along our borders and for the consequences of this dangerous state of affairs.”
AMBASSADOR HITS EGYPTIAN REFUSAL TO MAKE PEACE
Turning to the question of Israel-Egyptian relations, the Ambassador said it was no accident that Israel had welcomed the establishment of the Naguib regime which displaced the corrupt administration of King Farouk and his court – “the people who launched an unwarranted attack on our newly-established state five years ago.”
He said that “we, having fought for our own independence, would be the last people to begrudge the same freedom to anyone else.” But Israel, he added, could not be expected to stand by while Egypt, still showing no desire for peace, acquired great additions to her military potential.
“Such a development would endanger Israel’s very existence,” Mr. Elath warned, “and we are obliged to seek, to the best of our ability, the indispensable minimum of protection for our vital interests in this matter. Which is Israel to believe? he asked, “what Naguib and his associates tell their foreign friends or what they say even more publicly to their own supporters and, by radio, to the rest of the world?”
In reference to the current disorders in Syria, the Israeli envoy commented that Syrian dictator Adib Shishekly apparently finds his attempts to halt Israeli development projects “extremely useful in some of his Internal problems – as a distraction from deteriorating political conditions in Syria.”
The Israeli Ambassador told his audience that as concerns the general security of the area, there is no substitute for social security and political stability as the basis for effective self-defense of any kind anywhere.
“The only country in the Middle East which has a direct and vital stake in the defense of democracy and the preservation of international understanding and cooperation between nations is Israel,” he declared.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
