Mideast Power Balance Will Be Disrupted if Russians Aid Uar to Recapture Sinai

A high State Department official advised a group of businessmen today that if the Soviet Union should join in an Egyptian attempt to recapture the Sinai Peninsula, the United States would consider that the balance of power in the Middle East will have been disrupted. The official, who cannot be publicly identified, did not indicate what the U.S. which has pledged to preserve the balance of power, would do in such a situation, but he stressed that this country has at least a moral commitment to Israel and that Israel’s security is strongly endorsed by the American public. The official noted, however, that the U.S. still feels that it is Israel’s turn to issue a concrete statement on her attitude toward withdrawal from the Sinai. On a related point, the official said the U.S. was closer to Britain on Mideast policy than to France, which favors total Israeli withdrawal and an imposed peace.