Senate Body Starts Hearing on Nomination of U.S. Ambassador to Israel

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today started hearings on the nomination of Ogden Reid as United States Ambassador to Israel, prior to voting on confirmation of the nomination of the 33-year-old New Yorker who is acceptable to Israel.

Senator J. W. Fulbright, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, opened the hearings with a statement indicating that vigorous opposition may be anticipated to the nomination. He called for appointment of career diplomats, and questioned whether it is in the interests of the United States to assign diplomats abroad by political appointment, especially in a tense area like the Middle East.

The Middle East, he said, was “an especially troublesome area, more given to shifting political passions and outright violence than any other. ” He cited Iraq as a current example, and recalled the Suez attack of 1956. He told Mr. Reid: “I would be less than frank if I failed to state my conviction that our interests in the Middle East would best be served by ambassadors who have been carefully chosen from the career service. “

Mr. Reid was introduced to the committee by Republican Senators Jacob K. Javits and Kenneth Keating, both of New York State. Sen. Javits said the nomination of Mr. Reid was well received in Israel. He said Mr. Reid’s background qualified him for the post. Sen. Keating also urged approval of Mr. Reid’s nomination, stating that both Mr. and Mrs. Reid were studying the Hebrew language, and that the nominee was otherwise qualified.

Mr. Reid expressed appreciation to the two Republican Senators for their testimony, and to President Eisenhower for nominating him. The hearing was adjourned until next Tuesday.