Israel’s Premier Moshe Sharett told a Soviet diplomat today that the supplying of arms by the Soviet Union or Czechoslovakia to Egypt must arouse anxiety and resentment among the Israel people, the Jews of the world and all concerned with Israel’s security.
Summoning Soviet Charge d’Affaires Nikolai Klimov. Mr. Sharett outlined to him Israel’s views about the supplying of arms to any Arab states in the present circumstances and asked for further clarification of Moscow’s Middle East policy. Mr. Klimov promised to convey Mr. Sharett’s views to his superiors.
The Premier is understood to have asked how the latest Soviet move squared with a statement made September 12 by Zaitzev, who is in charge of the Soviet Foreign Ministry’s Middle East department, to Israel Ambassador Joseph Avidar, that neither the USSR nor any other of other of the East European Communist states had negotiated or were negotiating an arms pact with Egypt.
Mr. Sharett stressed that regardless of the reasons for supplying Egypt with arms, the development of a race to supply the Arab state with arms aggravates the dangers inherent to Israel in any strengthening of its enemies, and constitutes a blow to the stability of the Middle East. He also insisted that such a development would be a contradiction of the Soviet’s proclaimed policy of peace and reduction of arms throughout the world.
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