A State Department spokesman announced today that President Johnson has authorized resumption of food shipments to Egypt and United States officials revealed that the agreement now being negotiated with Cairo will provide about $55,000,000 in aid over a six-month period and would be partly payable in dollars.
American officials said the decision was taken because of a trend of improvement in American-Egyptian relations marked by Egyptian concentration on internal development rather than foreign affairs, greater moderation in Egyptian policies, improvement in the objectivity of the Egyptian press, the agreement to end the Yemen war, the settlement of American claims and the encouragement of private economic development. The decision followed consultation on the White House level with key members of Congress. There was no comment on questions of whether the new program is a forerunner of a $500,000,000 program.
The food aid agreement with Egypt terminated in June 1965, under pressure from Congress. It was pointed out that Egypt was diverting her own resources to acquire ultra created, filled by American aid. The new program will reflect some limitations required by Congress.
JEWISH CONGRESSMEN ‘DISTURBED’ OVER CHANGE OF WASHINGTON’S STAND
Rep. Leonard Farbstein, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a ranking member of the Near East Subcommittee, in a statement on the decision to authorize the beginning of negotiations for the resumption of the sale of foodstuffs to Egypt, declared: “I am disturbed that the United States is opening negotiations with Egypt for the shipment of food from American stocks. These shipments were halted last year when Congress raised objections to Egyptian policies which were both anti-American and inimical to the interest of peace in the Middle East.
Rep. Farbstein stressed that “as a minimum concession” the United States must request that the Egyptians cease using their resources to buy arms, then ask the U.S. to make up their deficit with food. “I think it would also be wise to negotiate with our food in favor of settling the Arab refugee problem; open the Suez Canal to all shipping; withdraw Egyptian troops from Yemen; halt provocative propaganda; and anything else that would help reduce Middle Eastern tension.”
Rep. Seymour Halpern, New York Republican, announced that he is informing the Executive Department that Congressional leaders who are said to have agreed on the resumption of aid to Egypt did not speak for him and that he “deplored the decision.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
