Pessimism concerning the prospects of an immediate peace settlement between Israel and the Arab countries was expressed here by Assistant Secretary of State Henry A. Byroade, who is in charge of the State Department’s Near Eastern Division, in a speech before the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.
Describing the armistice arrangements between Israel and the Arabs, Mr. Byroade said: “There is little prospect of an immediate peace settlement. It is unlikely that peace will follow any single agreement. However, it is our hope that no opportunity will be lost by either side to improve the atmosphere and step by step to relieve tension.”
Mr. Byroade pointed out that “as a practical matter, it is difficult, if not impossible, to envisage the return of the majority of the Arab refugees to Israel, although room for some of them might be found.” He expressed the view that Americans must “remain resolute that the United States will not countenance any aggression over the Arab-Israeli issue.”
Emotions surrounding the Arab-Israel problem are so tense, the Assistant Secretary said, that “any immediate or dramatic solution of the problem is impossible. Even progress towards solution of any segment of the problem is at best exceedingly difficult.” He added his conviction that the United States must, in its own interests, devote a major effort towards easing the tensions that have sprung from this situation.
SAYS IRON CURTAIN EXISTS BETWEEN ARAB LANDS AND ISRAEL
“There is today a blockade, one might say almost an iron curtain, between the Arab states and Israel,” he declared. He described it as “a case which, if not corrected, has in it the seeds of still more disastrous conflict in the Middle East.” On the Arab refugee question, Mr. Byroade stated:
“In any case, it seems that the larger portion of these unfortunate families must be aided to find a livelihood in areas which can absorb them and in fact benefit from their productivity. Workable arrangements must also be devised to compensate the refugees for their lost properties. Such a program calls for the development of new areas in which the refugee can be productive. The United States stands ready to give every possible assistance in such an effort, and indeed substantial funds have been voted by Congress to this end.
“Bleak though this picture is, I am convinced that progress is being made on this most difficult of issues. Arabs and Israelis and the United Nations must continue to accept a responsibility for final solution of this problem which so disrupts the stability of the area. We must assist in any manner which we can. We must be understanding of the emotions and problems involved. We must as well remain resolute that the United States will not countenance any aggression over the Arab-Israeli issue.
“We indicated our determination on this score in a tripartite declaration with the British and French in 1950, which declared that we would accept no change in the present Arab or Israeli boundaries unless accepted by the free will of the people concerned. There must be no doubt in the area that we mean what that declaration says,” Mr. Byroade emphasized. He prefaced his remarks on the Arab-Israel situation by saying that President-elect Eisenhower has given the opinion that “as far as sheer value of territory is concerned, there is no more strategically important area in the world.”
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