Proposed aid for Israel may be reduced in an across-the-board slash in total appropriations for the Mutual Security Program now being studied by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it was learned today.
While there is no evidence that Israel will be singled out for a special cut, nor even that any of the $196,000,000 requested for the Near Eastern area will be reduced, informed sources believe that efforts to lop off huge sums from the entire program could indirectly decrease the appropriations for Israel and all other countries. There has been behind-the-scenes talk, however, of exempting the Near East from any cut because of present tensions and the strategic situation of the area.
Mutual Security Administrator W. Averill Harriman asked Congress last month for $76,000,000 for the relief and rehabilitation of Jewish refugees in Israel. He also asked for $65,000,000 for the care of Arab refugees in Arab lands. The total amount of aid recommended by President Truman for the Near East was designated at $196,000,000. In addition to amounts designated from this sum for Jewish and Arab refugees, $55,000,000 remains for technical assistance to the area. Israel would receive a share of this amount. The proposed aid would be made available for the fiscal year of 1953.
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