Congressman James Roosevelt indicated today that he intends to raise in Congress the question of the State Department’s “clear discrimination” against Israel in the arrangements for supplying the countries in the Middle East with arms from the United States. He said that the question will be raised during consideration by the House of Representatives of the Mutual Security Program.
Rep. Roosevelt revealed that he was completely unsatisfied with a letter sent him Feb. 10 by Assistant Secretary of State Thruston B. Morton on behalf of Secretary John Foster Dulles. That letter was in response to an inquiry by Rep. Roosevelt expressing concern over the imbalance created by military assistance to Iraq and offered other Arab states while Israel was ignored.
In a reply to the State Department, Rep. Roosevelt said he did not feel the State Department had adequately responded to his inquiry nor allayed his concern. “I cannot see how we strengthen this area if we arm one side and ignore the other; if we create a military imbalance; if we refuse to recognize threats at their face value; if we continue to condone boycotts and blockades and a flagrant rejection of obligations under the United Nations Charter,” he said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
