American Ambassador Monnet B. Davis today requested that Israel Premier David Ben Gurion receive him tomorrow despite the fact that tomorrow is the first day of Succoth, when government offices are officially closed. It is believed that the meeting concerns the projected establishment of a Middle East defense organization.
Ambassador Davis and the British and French Ministers in Israel yesterday called at the Israel Foreign Ministry and officially informed the Israel Government that Egypt has been invited to join the Middle East defense project. The U.S. Ambassador gave assurance that Israel would be kept in mind in the development of the Middle East defense plan.
Political circles here pointed out that Egypt has not as yet signed any peace treaty with Israel. They expressed the opinion that the invitation to Egypt to join the regional alliance would “depreciate the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plan for the Middle East,”
(The New York Times reports today from Tel Aviv that the assurance given by U.S. Ambassador Davis during his visit to the Israel Foreign Office “was not amplified.” Nor did the British and French Ministers make any mention of Israel’s future in the West’s planning for defense of the Middle East. However, the report says that “the Israelis believe that if the United States, Britain and France–particularly the United States– use their influence wisely in creating the regional defense organizations, it can be made the lever to pry the Egyptians into peace talks with Israel.”)
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