Information on American military and economic aid plans for the Near East in the new fiscal year have been revealed here by Rep. Alvin M. Bentley, Michigan Republican, who is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rep. Bentley said, in a speech prepared for delivery before the Jewish Community Council of Detroit, that “the Administration program for fiscal 1956, which begins next July 1, contemplates direct military assistance to only one country in this particular area and that is Iraq. The reason for this is based entirely upon recent defense developments between Iraq and some of her non-Arabic neighbors. No direct military assistance is contemplated either to Israel or to the other Arab states.”
He said that although details of the Administration’s request for continuing military and economic aid have not been officially presented he could give certain “unclassified” information. For the entire region of the Near East and Africa, he said “The Administration is requesting an authorization of $73 million, some of which is to be on a loan and some on a grant basis. This does not include an authorization requested for our contribution to the United Nations Agency which is concerned with the refugee problem in this area.”
Rep. Bentley made known that “for direct technical cooperation assistance to Israel, the Administration is asking for an authorization of $2 million, which represents an approximate increase of $600,000 over the current fiscal year. All other forms of economic assistance, including the sales of surplus agricultural commodities, are included in the figure of $73 million which I previously mentioned and which has not yet been broken down on a country basis, “he said.
REDUCTION OF U.S. FINANCIAL AID TO ISRAEL IN 1956 PREDICTED
Rep. Bentley made known a general narrative statement for the new Israel program as prepared by the Foreign Operations Administration and which will be presented in the future before the Foreign Affairs Committee. The statement said: “While a precise and final determination of the level of aid to Israel in fiscal year 1956 cannot be made at this time, it is clear that Israel’s continued economic progress will permit the level of aid to be further reduced. It is planned that half of the development assistance funds will be made available on terms of repayment and that about half of the assistance will be in the form of surplus agricultural commodities.”
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