Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett said here that Egypt’s unilateral repudiation of its treaty with Britain raised the question of the worth of a definite peace treaty between that country and Israel.
“If Egypt is capable of unilaterally repudiating a treaty previously concluded,” he said, “we are not confident that we can sign a definite peace treaty with that country for fear it would receive similar treatment.”
The Israeli Foreign Minister spoke at a press conference. In reply to questions on the Anglo-Egyptian conflict, he expressed the view that every nation was entitled to self-determination to ensure its sovereignty but that no nation could unilaterally destroy a treaty it had concluded with another independent country.
In a reference to the Palestine Conciliation Commission’s peace talks at Paris, Mr. Sharett said the Israeli delegation was not able to negotiate on all items included in the Commission’s agenda since the Arab countries refused to agree to cease all hostile activities against Israel such as the economic blockade and the Suez Canal restrictions. However, he added that the delegation would sincerely co-operate with the Commission on all issues directly affecting Israel’s relationship with the United Nations, such as solution of the Arab refugee problem.
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