Oilmen Pressure State Department to Ease Support for Israel; Oil Interests in Jeopardy

Oil company officials, meeting privately with Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Sisco, warned him that military aid to Israel, especially planes, would severely damage relations between the United States and Arab nations and jeopardize U.S. oil interests in the Middle East, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today. Ten representatives of the Saudi-Arabian based Arabian-American Oil Company and it four owners – Standard Oil of New Jersey. Standard Oil of California, Texaco and Mobil – flew to Washington last Wednesday from New York and California to discuss the effect of politics on their interests, according to sources. The oilmen were reported to have taken a hard line of opposition to providing military hardware to Israel.

Representatives of ARAMCO were said to be concerned with efforts to soothe Arabian nerves in the Middle East to get its Trans-Arabian pipeline repaired. The pipeline, which carries oil from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterranean was sabotaged recently in Syria. The Syrian government will not permit technicians into the country to repair it. The ARAMCO officials were reported to have told Mr. Sisco that patching up of diplomatic relations and patching up the pipeline can be accomplished only if the U.S. eases its “strong support” of Israel. They expressed the feeling that the sabotage was a direct result of American support of Israel, according to sources. Leaders of various Arab nations have declared, in recent summit meetings, that further U.S. aid to Israel will compel them to boycott American oil in the Middle East and, if this does not stop U.S. support to Israel, will embark on a course of expropriation.