Seven-point Program Proposed in U.S. for Easing Middle East Tensions

A seven-point program for easing tensions in the Middle East was proposed at a luncheon here today by Governor W. Averell Harriman, former United States Senators Herbert H. Lehman and William Benton, and Mayor Robert F. Wagner. The luncheon marked the first meeting of the American Committee for Israel’s Tenth Anniversary Celebration. The program called for:

1. American sponsorship of a “pilot disarmament program” in the Middle East as a challenge to the Soviet Union’s aggressive thrust in that area, and as a way “that points to peace and security” for the entire world.

2. The convocation of a Middle East States “summit conference” by President Eisenhower, to include Israel as well as all the Arab states.

3. American and Western power guarantees of Israel’s territorial integrity and frontiers.

4. Abandonment of the American policy of “impartiality” in the Middle East and the substitution of a policy that would convince the Arab states that any “destructive” movement against Israel would “fail because we are going to see that it fails.”

5. Creation of a United Nations committee to meet with all the Middle Eastern states, including Israel, “privately or collectively, openly or even secretly, “in an effort to atta in peaceful existence between the Arab states and Israel.

6. A challenge to the newly-federated kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq to resettle Arab refugees from land-hungry Jordan to manpower-hungry Iraq, where the refugees could find abundant lands and work on needed developments.

7. A Middle East regional development plan that would benefit Arabs and Israelis alike economically and socially.

In his address Governor Harriman, who praised Israel for having established “a record for all the world to be proud of, ” declared that a number of factors must be taken into account in evaluating the situation in the Middle East today. One of “the ingredients in the mortar of Arab nationalism, ” he warned, “is a determination to drive Israel into the Sea. “

“Instead of trying to convince Arab leaders,” the Governor said, “that our great country is ‘impartial’ as between them and those they seek to destroy, we must seek to convince them that any movement that has destructive purpose at its core is bound to fail because we are going to see that it fails. ” On the other hand, Governor Harriman held that the United States must offer the Arab States “our hand in friendship and help if they will work together for human progress and live with Israel in peace. “

IRAQ URGED TO RESETTLE PALESTINE REFUGEES ENCAMPED IN JORDAN

“One of the early indications of Arab purposes, ” Governor Hariman continued, “will appear in the attitude taken toward the Palestine refugees. If the union between Jordan and Iraq is to have constructive meaning, surely Iraq, which needs new settlers in its underpopulated lands, will move to aid Jordan solve its Number One political and social problem by resettling several hundreds of thousands of the refugees now encamped there.”

Senator Lehman called attention to the “explosive” situation in the Middle East which, he held, could “threaten the extinction of civilization, ” and accused the Soviet Union of “capitalizing” on the region’s hostilities. “We face the fact, ” he said, “that Russia has become a mighty power and influence–for evil–in this region. ” In the Middle East today, Mr. Lehman cautioned, “the Soviet Union is calling the time. ” He expressed the hope that the United States and the rest of the world will not “continue to dance” to the Soviet tune.

Mayor Wagner told the Committee that the Arab States must be “made to understand” that peaceful life between Arabs and Jews in Israel is possible, and that the entire world would benefit from “peace and progress” in the area. “The burden of this educational program, ” he said “devolves naturally upon the United Nations, with the United States as the sponsoring nation giving impetus to this drive. “

Mr. Benton, who is an honorary co-chairman of the Committee, proposed that, after proper preparations, the President of the United States join with the heads of the Western Powers in calling a conference of Middle East nations, including Israel, to chart a course that will speed economic development and strengthen the idea of freedom and democracy in that region. “We must seek patiently aid persistently to persuade the Arab world that the State of Israel is a great and irrevocable historic fact, and that the fortunes of the Jew and the Arab in the Middle East are inextricably intertwined,” he added.

Dr. Israel Goldstein, as chairman of the Committee, announced that General Moshe Dayan, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Army, will come to New York to present Israel’s plans, for its second decade of Statehood at a mass rally, organized as a “Salute to Israel, ” to be held at the Polo Grounds on April 27. Another event announced by Dr. Goldstein was a solemn ceremony to be held at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, on Israel’s Tenth Anniversary, next April 24. Among the principal participants will be former President Harry S. Truman and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Abba Eban,