United States diplomatic efforts are being made, according to indications here today, to bring about a rapprochement between West Germany and the Arab states, A State Department spokesman said today “we hope the Arab states will find a way to maintain friendly relations with the German Federal Republic.” They indicated that this had been made know both to the Arabs and the Germans.
State Department spokesman Marshall Wright indicated that the Department was concerned about a possible deterioration in relations between the Arabs and West Germany.
But in the Senate, today, Sen, Jacob K, Javits, New York Republican, warned in a floor speech that American appeasement of Egypt’s Nasser is leading to a growing crisis in the Near East.
Sen. Javits asserted that Nasser’s “arrogance” increased and that “our country has knuckled under to him in a way which was demeaning to us, bad for our foreign policy, and, in the long run, extremely disadvantageous to the cause of freedom in the world.”
Sen. Hugh Scott, Pennsylvania Republican, called on the United States to provide Israel with defensive military equipment to protect “peace and stability in the Middle East.” In another Senate speech, Sen. Scott noted the build-up of Soviet military aid to Egypt, the abrogation of West Germany’s agreement to supply contracted arms to Israel, and the current Arab actions to divert Israel’s water sources. He said these factors endangered peace, along with the increased Arab border incursions against Israel and the formation of the so-called “Palestine Liberation Organization.”
Sen. Scott said that “dictator Nasser has proven by his actions that his intentions toward conquest go beyond the borders of Israel.” He urged that the United States allow Israel to purchase American weapons for air defense, and weapons for use against Egyptian missile ships. He requested that the State Department declare that America “views as a threat to peace the present Arab ‘spite’ plan to cut off Israel’s water supply.”
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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.