Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs George V. Allen said tonight that there is a “serious likelihood” of war between the Arab states and Israel. In an interview broadcast by the Voice of America, Mr. Allen declared that he believed “it is likely” that the Arab states and Israel with their present tense attitude could be involved in serious military operations, perhaps without either one knowing it.
Mr. Allen admitted that Israel is justified in requesting arms for its defense “in view of the fact that the Egyptians have acquired a very considerable amount of arms and perhaps more important than that, new types of arms. On the other hand, he said, the Israelis have to realize that “when you started an armament race, you have got to look as far as you can to find out where you are going to come out.”
“Nobody wants to devote any more of their scarce economic wealth to military equipment than you have to, and as far as the United States is concerned we don’t like to encourage that,” Mr. Allen continued. “We never have been in the armaments picture in the Middle East to an important extent…If an adequate situation exists for armaments, I may say that for my own point that I would rather give arms where they are needed, than to be in the business of selling them.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
