Secretary of State Dulles told a Senate hearing today that under the Eisenhower Middle East plan economic aid to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan would continue deferred until a closer look at the area was taken.
He said it was impossible to be sure that arms given the Arabs might not be used against Israel. He stressed that war supplies were most needed in states bordering on the Soviet Union and to some extent in Saudi Arabia, and added that he felt it unwise to supply arms to Israel or Arab states immediately adjacent, However, under some future circumstances Egypt and Syria might get U.S. military and economic aid. he declared, He said Israel received U.S. arms until the Simi incident.
Mr. Dulles recommended against inclusion in the Eisenhower Doctrine resolution of any guarantee to Israel against Arab aggression or vice versa. He said this would cause the Arabs to look upon the doctrine with less favor. Britain and France indicated by recent actions, he stated, that they did not feel bound by the 1950 Tripartite Declaration. But the treaty is still part of U.S. policy, Mr. Dulles said since this country was still trying to avoid an Israel-Arab arms race.
Sen. Wayne Morse, Oregon Democrat, pointed out to Mr. Dulles that Russia might indirectly help the Arabs against Israel. But the Secretary of State nevertheless held that U.S. military assistance to Israel should be avoided in the proposed resolution. He expressed confidence that if the Eisenhower plan is fully explained to the Arabs they would cooperate. He indicated that his objective was to protect the region as a whole from Russian penetration by securing Arab cooperation with the West.
Mr. Dulles said all Middle Eastern states are today free from external domination and that none were Soviet satellites. Asked what Middle Eastern states were internally free and democratic, he said he thought the Arabs were evolving toward a society that gives freedom to the individual.
ANTI-SEMITE ASKS CONGRESS TO CUT OFF GIFTS TO ISRAEL; IS REBUKED
Mervin K, Hart, president of the National Economic Council, testifying today before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Eisenhower Doctrine, urged Congress to cut off all government and private gifts to Israel as a way to solve the Middle Eastern situation. Three Congressmen took issue sharply with Mr. Hart, calling his group and its proposal “anti-Semitic.”
Mr. Hart had testified that American support of the “artificial” State of Israel had alienated the Arab states from America. He suggested that if aid from the United States and American citizens to Israel were severed, “Israel would then cease to be a factor. The Arabs would cease to be interested in Communism.”
Rep. Barratt O’Hara, Illinois Democrat, asked if Mr. Hart had “any other means of livelihood besides anti-Semitism. Mr. Hart replied: “That’s an insulting question. Rep. O’Hara then told him that “I intended it to be an insult.”
Rep. Wayne L Hays, Ohio Democrat, denounced Hart’s proposals as “definitely anti-Semitic. Rep. Marguerite C. Church, Illinois Republican, agreed with Congressman Haye. Rep. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, said he differed with Mr. Hart’s views and conclusions but thought Mr. Hart had a right to express them.
Nation commander William Carman of the Jewish War Veterans testified today before the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the Eisenhower Doctrine held no prospects for peaces” unless the Arab-Israel problem is met first. He cautioned against reliance on a “Maginot Line” in the Middle East without tackling the fundamental problem. Mr. Carmen called attention to anti-Jewish actions by Egypt.
The State Department today declined to enunciate a position on free maritime passage through the straits on the Gulf of Akaba. State Department spokesman Lincoln White was asked for the official U.S. view of the right of ships to use the Gulf of Akaba. He replied that he would not comment on matters before the United Nations and that the U.S. attitude would be made known there.
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.
