Lester Pearson Says There is No Current Need for New United Nations Mideast Force

Former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, who won the Nobel Prize for initiating the United Nations Emergency Force in the Middle East (UNEF) after the 1956 Sinai war, said yesterday that he saw no need for a UN force in the present Middle East situation. He added, however, that he favored creation of a permanent UN force to be ready whenever needed. Mr. Pearson spoke at a press conference following ceremonies at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rohovoth during which he was made an honorary fellow and a chair in protein research was established in his name. The former Prime Minister and Mrs. Pearson were visiting Israel as guests of the Weizmann Institute. He was greeted by Foreign Minister Abba Eban at a luncheon tendered by Meyer Weisgal, president of the Institute. Among those present at the Rehovoth ceremony was Dewey D. Stone, chairman of the Institute’s board of governors.

Mr. Pearson said he believed a solution of the Middle East problem depended on three basic points: Israel’s right to exist must be recognized by its neighbors; Arab fears of Israel must be allayed; and the refugee problem must be solved. He said there was no instant solution to the refugee problem but very little had been done to liquidate it. “If fear could be removed from this region, we could convert neighborhood, which is a geographical fact, into neighborliness, which is a state of mind and heart.” Mr. Pearson said that the withdrawal of UNEF from the Sinai and Gaza Strip in May, 1967 was an unfortunate step that precipitated the Six-Day War. He said, however, that it could not have been prevented as the Egyptian Government was completely within its rights to demand UNEF’s withdrawal.