Winding up the two-day foreign policy debate in the House of Commons last night, Foreign Under Secretary Anthony Nutting declared that the Egyptian demand for the right to veto the use to which Britain might put its installations or supplies in the Suez Canal zone would have made it “impossible for Britain to fulfill its obligations to Israel.”
Earlier, Laborite Jenner Lee told the House that many MP’s on the opposition side were “delighted “with Sir Winston Churchill’s references to Israel and his pointing out that Britain’s honor was at stake in “seeing that having achieved their corner of the world the Jews shall be helped to enjoy security and development.”
Richard Crossman, Laborite with a long record of pro-Israel activity, said that the only serious objection to the British evacuation of Egypt was, for him, Israel. “Can we withdraw from the Suez Canal and hand over the base to the Egyptians without setting alight a second round of war against Israel?” he asked. He called upon the Prime Minister to give his “generous words reality” by not withdrawing from Egypt without providing against any possibility of such a conflagration.
Conservative G. Alport called on the other powers involved in the security of the Middle East and who are pledged, with Britain, to maintain the territorial integrity of Israel, to “face” up to their responsibilities in this situation. He also asserted that if Haifa were to become an international base it would be of advantage to Britain and all countries allied with her, as well as to Israel.
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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.
