The reference by Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden to the boundaries of Israel set forth in the 1947 Palestine partition resolution of the United Nations when he spoke of the need of Israel and the Arab states to “compromise” on boundaries as a condition of a peace settlement, was “unfortunately worded,” R.N. Carvalho, president of the Anglo-Jewish Association, declared in a statement made public here today.
Mr. Carvalho stressed that this reference only raised false hopes among the Arabs and caused Israel to believe that Britain was turning against her. The statement, issued in the wake of a conference between Mr. Carvalho and R.H. Turton, Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, asserted that the 1947 resolution had been “eclipsed by history.” However, it did express the hope that such problems as “tidying up” the frontiers and removal of “anomalies resulting from arbitrarily drawn lines” would be taken care of, as would such questions as a land passage between Jordan and Egypt through the Negev and the fate of the Arab refugees.
Noting that the Anglo-Jewish Association had “never been an apologist for Israel,” the statement stressed that the AJA wants the closest ties between Israel and Britain. Asserting that it would be a tragedy if the attitude of Britain strengthened the hand of “those elements in Israel which would like to see her in the neutralist camp, “the AJA president called for new thinking on the part of the British Government before the “complex problem gets completely out of hand.” Finally, he warned that “with its present policy Britain could not escape blame should open warfare break out in the Middle East, whatever country fired the first shot.”
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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.
