The United States delegation here did not discuss Secretary of State George C. Marshall’s statement urging the admission of Israel and Transjordan at its daily delegation meeting, a spokesman revealed today. He sidestepped all questions about American support for Israel’s application being contingent upon the Jewish state’s acceptance of the Bernadotte proposals.
He indicated, however, that while Transjordan and Israel were linked in Secretary Marshall’s statement the United States would maintain its longstanding opposition to “package deals.” To underscore this position, the spokesman said, the U.S. delegation is considering a resolution to remind the Assembly that the International Court of Justice has ruled against applying conditions of reciprocity to the admission of new members to the U.N.
In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Guatemalan delegate Jose Garcia Granados declared that regardless of what decision emerged from the Assembly debate on Palestine. Israel will have to maintain a strong defense force for a long time. If they are “very substantially amended,” Granados said, the Bernadotte proposals could provide a basis for a settlement.
In particular, the Guatemalan delegate said, he feels that exchanging part of the Negev for Western Galilee would make Israel a more compact and more easily defended state than was envisaged in the original U.N. partition decision. He added that he will fight all attempts to amputate all of the Negev from Israel. He also said that he believes that Israel ought to agree to establishing Haifa as a free port and Lydda as a free airport.
SYRIA SAYS U.N. ASSEMBLY CAN DISCUSS BUT NOT ACT ON PALESTINE
The U.N. General Assembly today formally approved its General (steering) Committee’s recommendation that the Palestine question be placed on the agenda. At the same time, Syria’s Faris el Khouri placed a stumbling block in the path of early Assembly action on Bernadotte’s proposals.
Scoring a legal victory without a single delegate rising to challenge him, the Arab spokesman insisted that the Assembly could only discuss Bernadette’s plan but could not recommend any action on it because the Security Council has “seized” the question. El Khouri quoted a provision of the U.N. Charter which forbids the Assembly from intervening in a case on which the Council is acting, except at the request of the Council.
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.
