U. N. URGED TO INSIST ON DIRECT ARAB-ISRAEL TALKS
“The United Nations Security Council which is convening to discuss the Palestine problem this Thursday will be wasting its time if it is not determined to bring about direct peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, ” Dr. Israel Goldstein, president of the American Jewish Congress, declared today.
“The Security Council,” Dr. Goldstein said, “can no longer evade what has been its fundamental responsibility in this area”–the negotiation of a peace treaty for which Israel has repeatedly declared itself eager and ready and which the Arabs have equally repeatedly refused to consider or discuss.
He called upon the United States and the Western Powers to adopt a policy of firmness which will bring about such direct peace negotiations. “Any further evidence of equivocation or ambiguity by the Western Powers, ” Dr. Goldstein warned, “will only further encourage the Arabs to believe that by playing off East against West they can safely continue to refuse to make peace with Israel. “
Dr. Goldstein also urged that the United States cease supplying arms to Arabs as these shipments have only served to strengthen their intransigence and defiance. This stoppage, he said, coupled with “unequivocal insistence on peace negotiations” can play a decisive role in preventing further deterioration of a situation fraught with alarming possibilities.
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