Senator Herbert H. Lehman, who was a member of a bipartisan delegation which called on Secretary of State John Foster Dulles last Friday, said today that he hoped the State Department would take steps that would “quiet fears and strengthen security in the Middle East.”
“The State Department has more immediate responsibility than ever before, in the light of its role in the Suez settlement, and in view of the likelihood that the United States Government will be supplying arms to Egypt,” Sen. Lehman stated.
“A program of military assistance to Israel is an essential element of a program of relieving tensions in this area, and building up a sense of security,” Mr. Lehman declared. He added that he viewed a military build-up in the Middle East with “qualms.”
“I have always felt that economic aid programs promised higher returns in alleviating the sources of tension. The Suez agreement, and the withdrawal of British troops from the Canal areas, obviously make a military strengthening of the area essential from the viewpoint of the free world. But that strengthening must be uniform, and must include Israel,” he pointed out.
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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.
