U.N. Secretary-general in Israel; Urges Arab-israeli Peace; Visits Weizmann and Ben Gurion

A strong plea for peace between Israel and the Arab states was made here today by U.N. Secretary-General Trygve Lie who arrived during the week-end. He spoke at a press conference, following visits paid to President Weizmann and Premier David Ben Gurion.

“I return to the U.N. headquarters convinced that real and lasting peace between Israel and the Arab countries is possible despite all the obvious and serious difficulties,” he said. “However, the governments concerned must join in a new effort based firmly on a clear recognition of their over-riding mutual interests and animated by a spirit of true tolerance and mutual respect for the rights of others.”

Mr. Lie called for an end to “the tensions, bitterness and dangers of the present stalemate with its uneasy armistice, its unsolved problem of Palestine refugees and the strangulation of normal trade.” The refugee question, he said, is one of greatest urgency “since it poisons all relationships and continues to promote greater hatreds and bitterness. It is the duty of all 60 member-states of the United Nations to participate actively and contribute to a solution of this problem,” Mr. Lie stated.

“I very much hope that between now and the opening of the next session of the U.N. General Assembly the groundwork can be laid for new and vigorous attempts by the United Nations and its organs in the Middle East to make substantial progress toward peace,” Mr. Lie told the news conference. Be declared that in his capacity as Secretary-General of the world organization he would use all the influence of his office to that end.

SPEAKS OF NEED FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLE EAST; WERE OF DANGER OF WORLD WAR II

“My second impression concerns the great need for U.N. aid in the economic and social developments of all the countries in this part of the world,” he asserted. “This I believe, is a necessary part of ultimate peace in the Middle East.” Mr. Lie said that he was “impressed by the vast results that could clearly be achieved by really adequate development projects to be carried out in stages during the next 20 years.”

Emphasizing the point, Mr. Lie said that he had seen with his own eyes “what devoted and intelligent work can do to make a desert bloom,” He reminded the newsmen that he had advocated such a development program in his proposal for a 20-year peace plan now under consideration by the United Nations.

“It is necessary for all concerned today to think of the regional problems and the national problems in their relation to the serious world crisis,” Mr. Lie declared. “All of us now face the danger of a third world war which would engulf all nations in disaster,” he warned. However, he added that the United Nations is now striving to build up a system of collective security “to protect all peoples from such a disaster while continuing to seek Peaceful solutions of the present conflicts through negotiation, mediation and conciliation.”