The State Department declined today to comment on a report by the British Foreign Office confirmed last night in Cairo–that a considerable number of Egyptians are receiving military training in Poland. The British report estimated that about 200 Egyptian officers and noncommissioned officers are being trained in land, sea and air operations at a Soviet base near Poland’s Baltic Sea port of Gdynia. Instruction was reported to include the use of radar, submarines and all forms or artillery.
A State Department spokesman said that the United States has not yet taken a decision on the suggestion advanced by French Foreign Minister Christian Pineau to hold a tripartite Foreign Ministers conference on the Arab-Israel question in Paris on May 5. It is understood that the State Department is awaiting elaboration of M. Pineaus proposal from the French Government.
The State Department indicated today that it is also awaiting details from London on an announcement by the British Government revealing that it has completed a “stand-by” plan for military action in the Middle East in case of an Arab-Israel war. The British report said that June and July were considered the most critical months in relation to a full-scale war between the Arab countries and Israel.
Meanwhile, reports reaching Washington from London say that the steady increase of Egyptian power has influenced British military authorities in favor of selling arms to Israel. The balance of power in the Middle East is being altered much more rapidly than these military men had estimated, the report state, and there is a belief that the moment when that balance will shift in favor of the Arab states is in sight.
These military circles see the growth of Arab power indicated in the reorganization and re-equipment of Egyptian armed forces, the establishment of a joint Arab military command under Egyptian leadership and the possibility that Jordan may swing from British to Egyptian influence in any action against Israel. Some British officials have come around to the Israeli view that continued Soviet arming of the Arabs while Israel receives no help will result in an attack by confident Arab states.
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