Israel Will Not Wait for Destruction, Sharett Declares

Prime Minister Moshe Sharett warned today that Israel does not intend to sit around and wait to be destroyed by Egypt. He made the statement in an interview with the Columbia Broadcasting System in Paris. Mr. Sharett said Egypt intended to destroy Israel, but Israel, he went on to say, had no intention of simply waiting to be visited with that destruction.

In New York, Israel Development Minister Dov Joseph, asked if Israel contemplated a preventive war, commented that if Israel neither receives a guarantee or arms, it “will have to adopt very grave and serious decisions.” He added that “we are not angels. If anyone thinks we will permit Egypt to destroy us, they had better re-evaluate the situation.”

ISRAEL MINISTER CHARGES SUEZ BASE GETTING SOVIET ARMS

At Miami Beach, addressing the convention of the Jewish War Veterans of America, Reuven Shiloah, Israel Minister, said today that “there is nothing which the leaders, people, soldiers and veterans of Israel abhor more than war. There is nothing, however, which we cherish more than our freedom and independence. If it is fated that we must fight again to preserve and defend our dearly-won independence, we shall not waver.” He charged that the Suez Canal base which was to be held in readiness against the threat of major aggression against the free world, “is now being equipped with Soviet arms for aggression against Israel.”

In Santiago, President Carlos Ibanez of Chile told Ambassador Arieh Kubovy of Israel, with whom he discussed the situation today, that the country must be ready to defend itself.