The State Department la confident that the regrettable incident”–the shooting down by Israeli units of British planes last week-will remain only an incident and will not interfere with truce negotiations to begin later this week, it was emphasized in an official statement today. The statement reads:
“Concerning the shooting down of British planes by Israeli forces: The State Department is receiving information concerning the incident from both the British and the Israeli Government. We have every confidence that, regrettable as it is, it will be considered as a regrettable incident only and that it will not interfere with the truce negotiations which are to take place in Rhodes later this week. The State Department has been given to understand that if there are any Israeli troops still in Egyptian territory they are in the process of being withdrawn.”
A spokesman for the State Department today revealed that the U.S. Government was “informed but not consulted” about the projected British troop movements in the Palestine area. Asked about retorts from London to the effect that the British requested the United States to take a strong position supporting them in their stand in the situation, he said that the United States had no requests from the British asking the U.S. to take any kind of stand in the matter. “They have given us their account of the situation,” he said.
He declined to answer a question as to whether the British informed this government of troop movements other than forces sent to Aqaba. Nor would he comment on a question as to whether the United States told the British how it felt about the prospect of British troop movements in that area.
Eliahu Epstein, Israeli envoy to the U.S., today conferred with Joseph C. Satterthwaite, chief of the State Department Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs. He reviewed the current Israel situation based on the latest reports from Tel Aviv.
Presidential press secretary Charles G. Ross denied a Reuters report from Tel Aviv to the effect that President Truman called James G. McDonald, U.S. special representative to Israel, and talked with him via trans-Atlantic telephone for 15 minutes about the current situation in Palestine. “That Is untrue,” Ross said.
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