The 1960 Republican Platform Committee today released a foreign policy plank, as approved by the 103-member platform committee, pledging that “in the Middle East, we shall continue to support the integrity and independence of all the states of that area including Israel and the Arab states. “
The platform said: “With specific reference to Israel and the Arab nations we shall encourage in every feasible manner an early resolution of differences between them, an equitable solution of the refugee problem, an end to transit and trade restrictions, the cessation of discrimination against Americans on the basis of religious beliefs, and progress toward peaceful relations which will render unnecessary the continuation of the current wasteful and dangerous arms race. “
Senator John Sherman Cooper, Kentucky Republican, and former U. S. diplomat who served abroad on State Department assignments, headed the subcommittee which drafted the foreign policy plank.
Observers here compared the 1960 Republican Platform on the Middle East with that adopted by the Republican National Convention in 1956 and expressed the opinion that the Middle Eastern plank now is much more restrained than the one of four years ago. The 1956 plank had criticized the sale of arms by the Soviet Bloc to Arab countries and pledged support to Israel against armed aggression.
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.
