Israel seeks concrete guarantees that the Egyptians will not be permitted to return to the Gaza Strip nor interfere with shipping through the Akaba waterway, Premier David Ben Gurion declared in a cabled message published to day by the Sunday Dispatch.
Replying to a message of sympathy for the people of Israel at this critical hour from Charles Eade, editor of the Dispatch, Mr. Ben Gurion expressed happiness at the new understanding abroad of Israel’s “valid fears and legitimate needs. ” If such understanding, he continued, “finds expression in solutions now being worked out in Washington, Israel will accept them. If not, ” he warned, “we shall continue to oppose schemes which are unjust and which endanger our very security. “
“The distressing element in our current situation, ” the Premier pointed out, “is that our struggle is not against an enemy but against a friend–the Government of the United States. It is our earnest hope that the wisdom and sense of fair play of the American people will prevail over considerations of mistaken political expediency.
“Before withdrawing our troops from either the Gulf of Akaba or the Gaza Strip, ” Mr. Ben Gurion stressed, “we require concrete guarantees that the vessels of all nations will be free to move through the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Akaba and serve the Israel part of Elath. The Egyptians must never again be allowed to set up their coastal guns on the tip of the Sinai Peninsula which the Israel Army knocked out on November 3, 1956 and since when the years-old blockade was lifted and passage free to the ships of all countries.
“The second guarantee we require is that on no account will the Egyptians be allowed to return to the Gaza Strip. It does not belong to Egypt. It never did. They occupied it in 1948 when they invaded Israel and until they were driven out in November, 1956 by Israel forces they did nothing for the welfare of the Arab inhabitants of the Strip. All they did was turn this area into a base for fedayeen raids against Israel citizens. On no account must either their army or their administration be permitted to re-occupy the Gaza Strip,” Mr. Ben Gurion insisted.
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