Nasser Gives No Hint of Compromise with Israel in Cairo Talk

There is no hint on the part of Col. Nasser of a compromise with Israel, C.L. Sulzberger, chief foreign correspondent of the New York Times. reported today following a talk with the Egyptian ruler. “Nasser claims that he once hoped to arrange an accommodation with the Israelis, but when Ben Gurion raided Gaza in 1955 he changed his mind, ” Mr. Sulzberger said in his cable from Cairo. He quotes Nasser as stating:

“We know that aggression cannot lead to any result. Aggression can only be the beginning of something. But nobody can know where it will end. This is no longer the old world in which one was able to isolate one portion and deal with it apart. Any situation could create global war. So our policy is based upon peace and stability. That is why we accepted the United Nations Emergency Force in Gaza. “

This, the correspondent comments, sounds tranquil. But Nasser’s newspapers, Nasser’s radios and Nasser’s own orations all promise to “settle” the question of Palestine some day. Arabs interpret this to mean Israel’s eventual destruction, Mr. Sulzberger states. He adds that Nasser is undoubtedly frightened of Israel, which almost smashed him once. He considers Israel a permanent threat. He claims its Herut party elected deputies to Parliament on a platform of expansion to the Nile and the Euphrates.

“Ben Gurion’s policy is based on settlement. But to force peace means a war, ” the Times correspondent quotes Nasser as declaring. “and Israel needs one million dollars help each day just in order to exist. Suppose this aid ceases? The result will be expansion. Daily we wait for news that Israel has again invaded. This is the condition then–fear, no trust, no confidence, as long as Israel exists there is a danger.”