Official Foreign Office circles disclaimed today any knowledge of a newspaper report that Israel had indicated to Britain’s Middle East high command that it is ready to discuss close defensive arrangements with Britain.
British military sources indicated that this would not be the sort of matter that Israel would discuss with British military commanders in the Middle East, but rather a matter for top-level governmental consultation between the two governments before being referred to the military for comments.
Meanwhile, the Israel Embassy here denied another report attributing to an Embassy spokesman a statement to the effect that he knew that a proposal for Israel to join the British Commonwealth had been discussed with British Labor leaders. The spokesman for the Embassy stated flatly today that he did not know that such a proposal had been discussed, nor had there been any feelers in this direction.
It is believed here that the newspaper report is based on a misconception of the hopes of some Labor Party leaders that Israel might be invited to join the Commonwealth. Neither party has indicated any interest in such a proposal, it was underlined here.
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.
