The State Department has been asked to appear before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to show cause for eliminating Israel from among nations to receive special assistance grants in the new fiscal year.
The request for further explanations from the State Department and International Cooperation Administration for eliminating Israel from the grant-in-aid program was made by a Foreign Affairs Committee member, Rep. James G, Fulton, Pennsylvania Republican.
Rep. Fulton said today he does not feel Israel is receiving fair treatment. He said Israel is entitled to the same consideration given Arab states like Jordan, which is to receive a multi-million dollar grant for the new fiscal year. Rep. Fulton added that, in pressing for the reinstatement of Israel, he asked formal presentations on the Israel grant issue from the State Department and ICA.
The Congressman said that State Department officials assured him that a study would be prepared for a committee hearing to be held in the near future. He asked that the study specify why each Arab government included is entitled to aid, while Israel is omitted from such grant aid. He made clear that he referred to grant assistance and not development loans or surplus agricultural sales.
POLITICAL, NOT ECONOMIC MOTIVES PROMPTED STATE DEPARTMENT’S ACTION
U. S. sources today revealed that the termination of grant aid to Israel arose from a political decision of the State Department more than by any economic conclusions of the International Cooperation Administration.
These sources said Israel is seeking reinstatement to the list of countries recommended for grant aid, but that the State Department has been rigid. Within the ICA, however, a tendency to restore grant aid to Israel existed. But officials said nothing could be done, because the final decision rested with the State Department.
A suggestion came from these sources that the suspension of the grant program for Israel is part of a broader State Department diplomatic decision to “disengage” to some extent from U. S. identification with Israel. Such “disengagement” was termed desirable in order to facilitate U.S. diplomatic advantage from the emerging intra-Arab rift between Iraq and the United Arab Republic.
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