Sharett Defines Israel’s Stand on Soviet “Peace Offensive”

Israel’s attitude toward the Soviet "peace offensive" was defined here by Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett addressing the National Press Club on Friday. "The frank repudiation by the present Soviet rulers of the gruesome and fantastic charge preferred against a group of eminent Soviet physicians a group which according to the originally published version consisted almost entirely of Jews is as gratifying a phenomenon as it is spectacular." he said.

"It indicates the sharpness of Israel reaction to the revolting liberty," he continued. "It removes the initial link from the chain of circumstances which ostensibly led to the severance by the Soviet Government of its relations with Israel. It exposes to well deserve ridicule and contempt those fanatical adherents of the Soviet oracle who blindly accepted its former dictum and undertook to rationalize its absurdity."

The recent Soviet reversal, Mr. Sharedd said, "implicitly exonerates–if any such exoneration were necessary–both the American Joint Distribution Committee The Zionist Organization of the accusations of espionage and murder leveled against them. It carries with it the condemnation of the sinister anti-Semitic twist and purpose of the original indictment. This is a most welcome departure which, if indicative of a general trend, is calculated to allay the fears which previous manifestations of Soviet policy had aroused concerning the fate of Soviet Jewry. Yet even then the poignant questions overhanging the fate of that community in its tragic isolation remain unanswered."

Replying to a question of whether Israel expected a resumption of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, Mr. Sharett stated that this question "might be more properly addressed to the other side." He noted, however, that a decrease in anti-Israel agitation has been reflected in the Communist press.

OUTLINES ISRAEL’S INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST DEFENSE

Asked if Israel considered Arab-Israel peace as a prerequisite to Israel’s joining a Middle East Defense Command, Mr. Sharett answered that he could not visualize an effective command without Israel. He explained in his speech that while peace is Israel’s main objective, it must perforce learn to live without it. "In fact we do," he said.

"Any fundamental change in the strategic and geopolitical situation in Israel’s vicinity–such as the status claimed by Egypt in the Suez Canal area–affects Israel’s position and cannot, in international equity and farsighted statesmanship, be sanctioned without due regard to her interests," the Israel Minister declared. "The blockade perpetrated by Egypt against Israel, through the misuse of the Canal raises a grave doubt as to whether Egypt can safely be entrusted with the sole mastery of this vital international waterway."

Israel has only one condition for peace, he pointed out. "We should be accepted, and accepted as we are, with our territory, population and unrestricted sovereignty."

"The choice before the United States does not necessarily lie between a Pro-Israel and a Pro-Arab orientation," Mr. Sharett stated. "Friendship towards one side is fully compatible with friendship toward another." However, he stressed that "to arm the Arab states in the absence of peace–an absence of peace due solely to their refugee to make it–is to arm them converging against Israel. To attempt a system regional defense without Israel is to construct a wheel without a hub."

The Israel Foreign Minister said it was "a particular source of satisfaction" that "as before, the United States is at one with us in desiring the earliest possible attainment of peace in the Middle East. To our mind, the conclusion of a negotiated peace settlement between our neighbors and us is not merely a matter of self-interest but a world necessity." He added that the general security of a region could not be effectively organized "while the embers of warfare are still smoldering within it."

Mr. Sharett commended German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for his role in the recent German-Israel restitution agreement. "Dr. Adenauer deserves full recognition for the tenacity of purpose he has demonstrated in steering the ratification through all the stages despite the internal and external difficulties encountered till it has been formally consummated and has now entered upon the phase of its implementation," he said.