Cessation of all arms shipments by Britain to the Middle East and a United Nations investigation of the entire arms situation in that part of the world were demanded here last night on the floor of the Senate by Sen. Herbert H. Lehman, of New York.
Nothing that during the “past few months, Egypt has steadily increased her air power to include modern jet fighters and heavy bombers in considerable number,” the former New York Governor declared: “The armed forces of Iraq, Syria and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan have undergone less substential but still significant transformations into better-equipped and efficiently trained groups. The equipment involved in this rearmament program has come almost exclusively from Britain through the arms-assistance treaties which the United Kingdom has with Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.”
Mr. Lehman said that while Britain, which always supported the Arabs against Israel, arms the Arab nations which are Israel’s neighbors, these nations are becoming more and more inflammatory in their press comment about Israel. The weight of present evidence, he added, indicates preparations for a new assault on Israel. “Let us warn those who would break the peace in the Middle East, as we continue to warn those who would break the peace in Europe,” Mr. Lehman asserted.
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