The Soviet Government newspaper Izvestia claimed in an article published December 13 that the United States and Great Britain are rearming Israel “as a striking force in the struggle against the independent Arab states.” The article, signed “Observer,” was summarized in the weekly review of the Russian press distributed here today by the Soviet Mission to the United Nations.
The article said that Britain’s embargo on arms deliveries to the Middle East “after the Israeli attack on the Arab states last June, conformed to the U.N. charter” but that Britain subsequently resumed arms deliveries to Israel which “followed in the steps of Washington.”
Izvestia referred to the U.S. intention to supply Israel with A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers this year in fulfillment of a prior commitment. “Thus,” said Izvestia, “the United States and Britain, the states chiefly responsible for turning Israel into a militarist state, again help to arm Israel and play into the hands of the Tel Aviv extremists in their attempts to consolidate their hold on the occupied Arab territories.”
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.
