Senate Body Told of U.S. Aid to Israel and Arabs for Next Year

The “critical tensions” which exist between the Arab states and Israel were stressed by Harold E. Stassen, director of the United States Foreign Operations Administration, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. However he said that the U.S. Government is “encouraged by the recent evidence of constructive attitudes towards reaching a solution of the international water problems in the Jordan Valley.”

Mr. Stassen said the 73 million dollars of development assistance is requested by the FOA for the Near East and Africa to meet critical economic needs during the coming fiscal year. In addition, 65 million dollars is requested in the budget for foreign aid in the new fiscal year “to provide relief and resettlement assistance for Palestine Arab refugees, if we are convinced that such assistance would result in measurable progress towards the solution of this tragic problem.”

While testifying before the committee, Mr. Stassen was questioned critically on the Arab arms issue by Senators Alben W. Barkley, Kentucky Democrat, and William Langer North Dakota Republican. Sen. Barkley said he had heard complaints that the Arabs were getting military assistance while Israel received none.

Mr. Stassen said no military aid is going to any country which borders on Israel or to Israel it self. He said the U.S. Government is not furnishing military help to either side in the Israel-Arab border disputes. The Middle Eastern states receiving free grant arms, he said, are Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan. He pointed out that these countries border on the Soviet Union but not on Israel.