Representative Seymour Halpern, New York Republican member of the House Banking and currency committee, this week-end protested to Secretary of State Christian A. Herter and president Eugene R. Black of the World Bank, against the bank’s $56,500,00 loan to the United Arab Republic for improvement of the Suez Canal.
Congressman Halpern stated that, “aside from the financial risk involved in granting a “oan to a country of renowned instability and a record of international blackmail, the very idea that our Government should be a party to rewarding a defaulter, both morally and materially, is repugnant to the traditional American spirit of justice and honesty, and good business practices.”
Rep. Halpern told Mr. Herter and Mr. Black that failure to insist on free transit in the canal for Israeli commerce “can seriously damage America’s rising reputation among the underdeveloped and uncommitted nations of the world, which look to us for world leadership and a consistent attitude on the subject of international morality.”
Rep. Halpern asked: “If Nasser can decide to deny the canal to a nation at his own whim and pleasure, what is there to prevent him from one day denying the use of the canal to the United States?”
He urged'” immediate negotiations with the UAR on imposing conditions and terms before any more funds be considered for the huge canal undertaking of which this loan is the first step.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
