Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, addressing an overcrowded session of the Israel Parliament today, said that, although Israel sees “imminent danger” of an attack by Egypt and must be prepared to defend itself, it would nevertheless be a “serious mistake” to assume that war against Israel is “unavoidable.”
The general line of Mr. Ben Gurion’s speech was approved yesterday by the entire Cabinet which also approved the views presented by Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett. It is now anticipated that the reports which the two leading members of the Cabinet will make to the Parliament will put an end to rumors about existing divergencies between them and will show that complete solidarity exists in the Cabinet on the question of Israel’s security and on foreign affairs issues.
“I should like to state from the very beginning,” Mr. Ben Gurion said, “that we shall be grievously at fault, if we don’t see with open eyes the imminent danger of an Egyptian attack –and perhaps not only by that country — and if we don’t prepare to defend ourselves in good time to the limit of our moral, economic, and military capacity. However, we shall simultaneously be guilty of a serious mistake if we assume that war against us is unavoidable and predestined.
“Recently I explained why all members of the Cabinet, without exception, are firmly opposed to war being initiated by us,” the Israel Premier continued. “We did not want war even in 1948, but it has been forced upon us by Arab rulers whose armies invaded this country to destroy Israel and set to naught the United Nations’ decisions. We believed that maintenance of peace is preferable even to victory in war.
“Our dearest wish,” Mr. Ben Gurion emphasized, “has been and will always be the rehabilitation of the ruins of our country, the ingathering of the sons of our people, the building of an exemplary state, the realization of our Messianic aims by redemption of man, nation and humanity and cooperation with our neighbors in a spirit of mutual affinity, and the strengthening of world peace.
“We know,” Mr. Ben Gurion said, “that any war-one even in which we gain the upper hand–involves ruin and destruction for both parties and intensifies hatred between nations. We know that, after our victory in one war, a second round is possible, and after our victory in the second war a third round may come and there is no end to this business.”
SAYS THERE IS NO REASON FOR CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT
Citing Israel’s efforts to rebuild the country, the Premier pointed out that during the short period of Israel’s existence the present government had to rebuild the ruins and “set right the misdeeds” of conquerors and foreign rulers from the Roman days until the time of the British mandate. “For this reason–but not only for this reason alone-our aim has been peace,” he declared. “We wanted peace with our neighbors and cooperation with them for general prosperity in the Middle East. But the trouble is that peace requires good will on the side of both parties, whereas for war it is enough to have the bad will of one side only.”
Mr. Ben Gurion then went on to cite numerous violations by the Arab countries of the armistice agreement, the contravention’s by them of the United Nations Charter, the anti-Israel boycott, the anti-Israel blockade by Egypt of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, and the number of Israeli casualties inflicted by Arab guerilla warfare which runs into many hundreds. The guerilla warfare he said, did not attract world public opinion because the murders did not provide the world press with sensations.
The Premier recalled how Egyptian representatives at the United Nations declared expressly that Egypt continues to maintain a state of war with Israel. He pointed out that there has never been, and there is also not now, any reason for a political or territorial conflict between Israel and Egypt. “Israel,” he said, “wishes to see a free, independent and progressive Egypt, and we bear no enmity for Egypt’s action in recent times. It never occurred to us to exploit Egypt’s difficulty with the great powers.”
Mr. Ben Gurion also touched upon Syria’s attempts against Israel. He especially cited the Syrian provocations in the Huleh drainage area, and the recent planned attack on the Northern shores of Lake Tiberias which he emphasized, is in Israel’s undisputed sovereignty.
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