President Eisenhower today announced at his press conference that American aid to Israel is being resumed. He said that he had conferred with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and was delighted to learn that Israel had given approval to what he, the President, described as United Nations recommendations on the water question.
Later in the day Secretary Dulles announced that he had recommended to the President that Israel receive a grant of approximately $26,000,000 for the first six months of the current fiscal year. This, he said, was “the amount which previously had been tentatively earmarked for allocation to Israel under the Mutual Security Act of 1953 in agreement with Mr. (Harold) Stassen, director of the Foreign Operations Administration.”
The President said aid to Israel was cut off under the policy laid down by the United Nations and pointed out that the U.S. does not want to prejudice any question before the United Nations but attempts to support it in everything.
Mr. Dulles said “definitive action” in the matter of aid to Israel was deferred “because of differences between the State of Israel and the United Nations truce supervision organization, relating to a Jordan River water diversion project. This work recently undertaken by Israel is in part in the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria.”
“Yesterday,” Mr. Dulles said in his statement, “in the United Nations the spokesman for the Government of Israel in response to a request from the President of the Security Council agreed that the work started by Israel in the demilitarized zone would be suspended pending urgent examination of the question by the Council. The Security Council thereupon by unanimous resolution took jurisdiction of the matter and confirmed the suspension of work on the project. The spokesman for the Government of Israel also stated to the Council that it was the policy of his government that it would in the future cooperate with the Council’s efforts to reach a solution taking account of all legitimate interests.
“The policy of the United States to support the UN truce supervision organization in this matter has thus been realized and the impediment to the present grant of economic aid to Israel has thus been removed. Programs for economic aid to other states in the Near East are in an advanced state of formulation and it is expected that some of them can shortly be announced, ” Mr. Dulles concluded.
Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver said today after having lunch with Secretary Dulles that the decision by President Eisenhower to resume aid to Israel had Mr. Dulles’ “hearty approval.” Rabbi Silver said he was invited to come to Washington three days ago to discuss the Israel situation with Mr. Dulles.
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