President Johnson is believed by authoritative Congressional sources to be preparing for a summit meeting with Kremlin leaders — a meeting which some Congressmen fear may involved United States concessions in the Middle East in exchange for Communist concessions on Vietnam.
This view was advanced following announcement today of the resignation of George Ball as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Ball resigned with a controversial statement. He said, “We tend to think of Vietnam as the center of the cosmos.” He stressed that the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia revealed that there are “very big ferments close to the heart of power and danger.” (See related story on Page 4.)
Congressional leaders said it was probable that Mr. Ball did not like the outline of a possible summit deal with the USSR now reportedly sought by President Johnson. It appeared to them that Russia has diverted attention from the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia by presenting a new “peace” plan attacking the Israeli occupation of Arab territory.
In the opinion of informed men on Capitol Hill, the President has withheld the Phantom jets to retain maximum leverage in controlling Israel and seeking a deal with Moscow on Vietnam that could be at Israel’s expense. Mr. Ball, who reportedly hopes to become Secretary of State if Vice-President Hubert H. Humphrey becomes President, was said to have grave misgivings over any such deal and wanted to dissociate himself from the emerging diplomatic activity.
Rep. Edward Derwinski, Illinois Republican, warned today that the Soviet Union “on the eve of the new United Nations session is trying to divert attention from the brutal Russian seizure of Czechoslovakia by shifting the focus to Israel.” He is a House Foreign Affairs Committee member.
Rep. Derwinski said he saw nothing new in the Soviet proposals but did see “a very dangerous tendency in the apparent readiness of some Western leaders to fall into the Russian trap.” He said American support of Israel against Communist pressures should remain firm and that “our policy makers in these crucial next three months must be alert to any illusory detente with the Kremlin at the expense of America’s true friends.”
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