Eban: Europe As Well As U.S. Has Responsibility to Deter Soviet Domination of Mideast

Foreign Minister Abba Eban advised leaders of the German-Israeli Friendship League today that Europe, as well as the United States, has a responsibility to deter the Soviet Union from dominating the Middle East, as European security would be endangered as much as Israeli security in such an event. According to the Foreign Ministry, “One of the points which Mr. Eban put to the delegation was that the growing Soviet involvement on the Suez Canal front is aimed not only at weakening Israel but also, and perhaps in essence, at exerting pressure on Europe. If Soviet supremacy is established in the Mediterranean, the security of Europe will be undermined.” Dr. Ernst Benda, president of the league, a member of the German Bundestag and a former Minister of the Interior, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency he agreed that the West German government “has not made its position sufficiently clear–in fact, has not made any public statement with regard to its attitude.”