Israel will continue to oppose the United States policy of arming the Arab states, and will not be satisfied with mere verbal guarantees of its security, which is now even in greater danger as a result of the British-Egyptian agreement on Suez, that has brought about a change in the Middle East’s balance of power, Premier Moshe Sharett declared at a press conference here.
The Israel Premier, who is also Foreign Minister, said that U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, in his recent talks with Israel’s Ambassador Abba Eban, “revealed his good will in an effort to calm Israel in the face of her anxieties.” But, Mr. Sharett added, “I don’t think that good will alone can satisfy Israel.”
Sending arms to the Arab states, the Israel Premier stressed, contributes to the deterioration of peace and stability in the Middle East. It is the equivalent of a prize to the Arab states for their refusal to negotiate peace with Israel, he asserted. Not only will delivery of arms to the Arab states make peace in the Middle East more remote, but it will not even help the stabilization of the already shaky regimes in the Arab countries themselves, nor will it aid relations among the various Arab states, Mr. Sharett believes.
“We are convinced,” he stated, “that those arms will not be used for the aim envisaged by the senders. We base that conviction on witnessing what the Arabs did in two world wars. We are convinced that the Arabs would use those arms against Israel.”
WARNS ARABS MAY LOSE OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPENSATION FROM ISRAEL
Mr. Sharett revealed that Israel is continuing her talks also with the British Government with regard to the Suez developments, inasmuch as they affect Israel. Asked whether Israel would return to the Israeli-Jordanian Mixed Armistice Commission, which she has boycotted for several months, he replied that this depends on “prevailing conditions.”
The Premier warned the Arab states that their continued economic harassment of Israel endangers their opportunity to receive compensation from the Jewish State for abandoned Arab lands. “They might lose that opportunity for compensation which Israel has undertaken,” he said. “They should not think that it will be possible always to demand payment on such obligations, when they themselves cause us such great losses, day to day, by blockade, economic boycott and undermining our position in the international economy.”
Mr. Sharett emphasized that “it should be clear” that the abandoned lands “were not acquired in the free market, but through aggressive war and invasion on the part of the Arabs, who caused us immense losses, materially and physically. All that will have to be taken into account,” he said.
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.
