Last Minute News U.S. and Canada Urge United Nations to Warn Jews and Arabs Against Truce Breaches

The United States and Canada, through their representatives at the Security Council, today urged the Council to reaffirm its strong cease-fire order to the Jews and Arabs in Palestine and to warn them that no breaches of the truce will he tolerated.

Israeli representative to the U.N. Aubrey S. Eban called on the Council to set a deadline for the truce as the beat way to bring about Arab-Israeli peace negotiations. Denying that the Israeli Government had ever taken the position that it would terminate the truce by unilateral action, Eban asserted: “So long as the truce is in force, we will observe it–with only one condition, that the Arabs observe it, too.”

In urging the Security Council to take a firm attitude against any of the parties guilty of breaking the truce, U.S. delegate Phillip S, Jessup emphasized that only the Council can terminate the truce. He specifically asked for cooperation with the U.N. mediator in the demilitarization of Jerusalem. He also urged the Council to call on all members states of the United Nations to cooperate in preventing breaches of the truce which might occur “through shipments to Palestine.”

The Canadian delegate, Gen. A.L. McNaughton, said that a recent statement by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Moshe Shertok, “contains the suggestion that the Palestine truce may not continue.” He insisted that the Council should grant U.N. mediator Count Folke Bernadotte the right to demand on-the-scene cooperation in pre-serving the truce.

“The Security Council should take this occasion to remind both parties in Palestine that failure of either of them to comply with the truce would demonstrate that the party responsible has broken the peace,” Gen. McNaughton said. “The Council would then have to consider immediately the possibility of further action required under chapter seven of the Charter.” Chapter seven provides for sanctions.