A delegation of prominent Jewish leaders today called on Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and expressed to him their concern over the recent actions of the State Department regarding Israel. The delegation was organized and accompanied by Senator Irving M. Ives and Rep. Jacob K. Javits, both Republicans of New York.
The delegation urged upon the Secretary of State the necessity of maintaining Israel as a secure bastion for freedom and peace in the Near East in the interests of the United States and the whole free world. It asked, therefore, that the United States should re-examine with the Government of Israel the policy of delaying allocation to Israel of a share in the special economic aid voted by the Congress which is required as a basis for the operation and development of Israel’s economy.
The delegation referred to the economic boycott of Israel openly carried on by the Arab states and their disregard of UN decisions and the categorical refusal of the Arab states even to undertake negotiations with Israel for a peace treaty.
The delegation expressed to the Secretary profound regret and sympathy for the victims of the deplorable and tragic incidents on the Israel-Jordan frontier which have cost the lives of so many innocent people on both sides, and urged the U.S. Government to address itself most vigorously to the problem of Arab-Iseael peace on the occasion of the Security Council’s consideration–starting tomorrow–of these incidents.
The delegation also stressed that development in Israel should not be impeded or delayed by opposition of any Arab state to Israel’s development or by the refusal of any Arab state to cooperate in regional development – “in short, that Arab hostility to Israel should not be permitted to veto Near East development which is now part of the fundamental foreign policy of the United States. “
The delegation concluded: “We believe that the armistice agreements between Israel and the Arab states can and must be transformed into honorable and just peace treaties as quickly as possible, that this is in the vital security interest of the United States and the entire free world and that the enormous prestige of the United States can he used in the present situation to make Arab-Israel peace the central objective in the current discussions before the United Nations Security Council.”
The delegation included Matthew Brown, member of the administrative committee of the American Jewish Committee; Mrs. Samuel Halprin, vice-chairman of the American Zionist Council; Maxwell Abbell, president of the United Synagogue of America; Philip M. Klutznick, president of the B’nai B’rith; Louis Lipsky, chairman of the American Zionist Council; William Rosenwald, vice-president of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds; Bernard Trager, chairman of the NCRAC, and Bernard Katzen who accompanied Sen. Ives and Rep. Javits.
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