The Senate voted this week-end to restore $37,500,000 of the amount cut by the Senate Armed Forces and Foreign Relations Committees from the funds in the Mutual Security Bill which are earmarked for the Near East. An amendment introduced jointly by Senators Paul H. Douglas, Illinois Democrat, and Robert A. Taft, Ohio Republican, won on a standing vote.
The amount of aid for the Near East was increased through the amendment from $122,500,000 to $160,000,000. Of this amount, Israel would receive $50,000,000 to care for refugees in addition to approximately $18,000,000 in economic aid. The Arab refugees will receive $50,000,000. If the Senate-House conference on the bill does not alter the section on the Near East, Israel should receive a total of approximately $68,000,000 in economic aid, in addition to approximately $20,000,000 in military assistance.
Sen. Douglas said Israel could be counted on as a state more loyal to the West than its neighbors in the Near East. He pointed out that Israel’s right-wing increased its strength in the recent elections while left-wing elements lost. The Illinois Democrat also mentioned the treaty of friendship which was signed recently. Sen. Taft cited Israel’s potentialities as an ally and indicated that the state might prove valuable in the defense of the Suez Canal, African airfields, and uranium deposits of the Belgian Congo.
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