Laborites in Commons Insist That Britain Give Arms to Israel

Laborites in the House of Commons continued today their campaign of pressing the government to supply Israel with defensive arms to with stand an Arab attack.

Responding to a number of questions by various Labor MP’s, Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd reiterated that the British Government and the other signatories of the Tripartite. Declaration had a policy in the event of hostilities between Israel and the Arab states, but refused to give any information on that policy.

Repeatedly asked to supply Israel with weapons, he took his stand on the Tripartite Declaration, asserting that the British Government would continue its policy of sending limited supplies of arms to the Middle East countries for legitimate self-defense, for internal security and for the defense of the Middle East as a region.

Deliveries would be made on these criteria and in the light of the governments desire to avoid an arms race, he insisted. He refused to divulge any details of such deliveries, as a matter of policy. The Foreign Secretary asserted that a survey of British arms supplies over the last five years would show a “fair balance.”

WESTERN POWERS MAY ACT ON ARAB-ISRAEL ISSUE OUTSIDE U.N.

Asked by Sidney Silverman, Labor, whether in certain circumstances the tripartite signatories would consider going outside the United Nations in taking action on the Middle East, or would even take action which would conflict with UN decisions, Mr. Lloyd declared that it had been made perfectly clear that the Western Powers reserved the right to act outside the UN, if necessary.

In response to a query by Hugh Gaitskell, Labor Party leader, what would be done in the event one party in the Middle East violated the borders of another, Mr. Lloyd said that the tripartite discussions on the Middle East tension were still in progress and it would be “unwise” to indicate what action might be taken in a hypothetical situation. He disputed with Laborites that the tripartite powers were in dispute on policy, adding that there was agreement on policy although there might not be on the mans of implementing that policy.

When Laborite Arthur Henderson asked the government recommend to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold that the UN truce organization’s functions in Palestine be extended to include observation of all military preparations, concentration of armed forces and the number of troops involved, the Foreign Secretary said that the U.S. resolution calling on Mr. Hammarskjold to go to the Middle East was wide enough to include these points. He expressed hope that Mr. Hammarskjold would be able to begin his mission very quickly.

BRITISH RELUCTANCE TO ARM ISRAEL INDICATED IN HOUSE OF LORDS

Government spokesmen in the House of Lords refused yesterday to reveal details of a reported British Government plan to rush military forces to the Middle East within 4 hours if hostilities break out between Israel and the Arab states. The spokesmen refused even to say whether such a plan exists.

Responding to questions by Labor and Liberal Lords, Lord Reading, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Lord Home, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, insisted that the only safe haven for Israel in the current crisis was reliance upon the Tripartite Declaration. Lord Reading noted that the tripartite signatories were currently discussing the whole Middle East situation.

Lord Home reiterated a position voiced earlier in London and Washington, that arming of the Israelis by the West would mean further Arab approaches to the USSR for arms and a continuous round of new armaments for both sides–a competition in which the less than 2,000,000 Israelis could not hope to hold their own against 40,000,000 Arabs. Lord Home turned down a request for an Anglo-Israel treaty; asserting it would only contribute fuel to fire, and expressed the hope that the United Nations would come up with a positive solution.