Ribicoff: Big Four, Security Council Assurance of Mideast Peace is Insufficient

Sen. Abraham A. Ribicoff has advised Congress that “United Nations or multi-power gurantees have notably failed to keep the peace in the past,” and stressed that “Security Council or Big Four assurances of a Middle East settlement are no substitute for direct negotiations and mutual expressions of peaceful intentions.” In that connection, the Connecticut Democrat charged that President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. like his predecessor, the late Gamal Abdel Nasser, “speaks in one voice for Western consumption and in a much different voice to his own people–and to Palestinian terrorist leaders. Ribicoff speaking on the floor of the Senate, also accused the State Department of “hovering on the brink of committing a tragic foreign policy blunder” by advocating Israeli withdrawal to its June 4, 1967, borders with only “insubstantial” changes. “In return,” he said, “Israel is being offered only vague promises by the Arabs and uncertain assurances by the United Nations and the United States” that “cannot bring lasting peace to the Middle East.” Ribicoff implored President Nixon to “undertake an urgent review of our current Middle East policies before ### damage is done to American interests.” Minority leader Hugh Scott, Republican of Pennsylvania, told the Senate yesterday that President Nixon’s rejection of an imposed settlement gave Israel “a degree of latitude” in which to participate in “meaningful peace negotiations.”