Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who just returned from a three-week tour of the Middle East with Senator Gale W. McGee, reported his conclusions on the trip today, in which he said Senator McGee was in essential agreement.
Senator Gore said there was significantly more political stability in the Middle East and a much greater military potential, than when he visited the area three years ago. He said that during the talks which he and Sen. McGee had with Premier Ben-Gurion of Israel, and President Nasser of the United Arab Republic, “we came to an agreement that both would accept conciliation and cooperation solving the Palestine problem.”
“We hear much talk to the effect that all the million Palestine refugees want to return to their homeland,” he said. “While we were in Israel, we learned that negotiations were under way for the return of 250,000 from Jordan. But when we were talking with Mr. Ben-Gurion, he was interrupted by a telephone call from his military commander who reported that many of the refugees were standing with swords at their breasts and threatening to kill themselves if forced to go back.”
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.
