Arab antagonism to the West is the primary factor in the unrest in the Middle East, Abba Eban, Israel Ambassador to Washington and head of its delegation to the United Nations, declared here last night Mr. Eban delivered the third of the annual Herbert Samuel Lectures named for Lord Samuel, first High Commissioner of Palestine.
Tracing the history of the Arab peoples, the Ambassador said: “Arab antagonism to the West antedates, transcends and will survive Arab hostility to Israel.” Pointing out that the non-Arab peoples of the region were a majority, he called on them to “make their voice felt” if they would have equal rights with the “Arab minority.”
Mr. Eban expressed the belief that Israel’s support of various Moslem nations in the quest for recognition–in respect to Tunisia, Morocco, Lybia, the Sudan and other gestures of tolerance–will “find their vindication in the long perspective of history in which the Arabs and the Israelis will eventually have to find common ground.” He predicted that peace between Israel and the Arabs will be gained “not by a direct route which leaps straight towards peace as the immediate aim but through the steady indirect approach of Israel’s peaceful consolidation.”
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