The United States was urged today to provide a policy of insurance for Israel and all other Middle East nations ready to negotiate a peace treaty, which would include a security guarantee and sufficient arms for defense against attack. The appeal was made by Philip M. Klutznick, world president of B’nai B’rith, speaking at the meeting of the B’nai B’riths Board of Governors, now taking place here.
“The great Western powers,” Mr. Klutznick said, “must provide a policy of insurance to the nations of the Middle East who desist from an arms race and who are prepared to face up and negotiate peace and tranquility. The only way open is to guarantee and secure the borders of such enlightened nations. The fact that one nation would be Israel should not make such a policy less desirable but more desirable. It is an essential concomitant of such a policy that the Western powers must prepare any nation that is willing to hazard its existence by joining in this campaign for peace by supplying these essential armaments to defend itself if attacked.” The B’nai B’rith leader expressed confidence that the U.S. would not “stand idly by and permit Israel to be destroyed.”
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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.