Opportunities for reducing Arab-Israel tension have arisen now as never before in Israel’s history, but the danger of war has similarly increased as never before, Premier David Ben Gurion told an extraordinary session of the Israel Parliament today. He reported on Israel’s security, on the constant efforts of the Israel Government to secure peace and on his talks with Dag Hammarskjold, United Nations Secretary General, who is now on a “peace mission” in the Middle East.
The apparent contradiction, Mr. Ben Gurion said, can easily be explained by the fact that the danger of war has obviously aroused the concern of great and small nations to realize that any conflagration in the Middle East is likely to spread throughout the world. This, the Israel Premier emphasized, has been revealed by Mr. Hammarskjold’s mission and perhaps also by the shift in the Soviet policy with regard to the Middle East.
Premier Ben Gurion reviewed at length the history of the Arab-Israel armistice agreements and how they were constantly violated by the Arab states. The armistice pact with Jordan, he pointed out, provided for free access by Israel to the Holy Places, the right to use installations on Mt. Scopus, free access to the Mt. of Olives cemetery, free use of the Bethlehem and Latrun roads as well as the railway to Jerusalem. “Only the last point was implemented, while Jordan persistently refuses to implement the other clauses,” Mr. Ben Gurion emphasized. He stressed the fact that Israel had agreed to provide electricity for the Jordan-held Old City of Jerusalem, but the offer was rejected.
“Israel has always striven and will continue to strive to maintain peace in the region,” the Premier continued. “To our regret this is not the attitude of our neighbors for whom the signing of the armistice agreements mean nothing more than a scrap of paper. They have never ceased openly and secretly to prepare for a ‘second round’ to wipe Israel off the map. As long as they are not certain that they can achieve this by military strength, they use boycott and economic blockade and guerrilla warfare in open defiance of their undertaken obligations.”
Mr. Ben Gurion then reviewed the acts of violence committed by Egypt and Jordan against Israel leading to ever-increasing tension. The danger, he said, became more acute after a stream of Soviet arms and heavy bombers and tanks began to flow into Egypt in addition to arms which she had already received from Britain and the supplies which Saudi Arabia and Iraq have been receiving from the United States.
“For a considerable time,” Premier Ben Gurion said, “the great powers ignored the danger, not only for Israel but for world peace. It was public opinion in France, Britain, the United States and some other Western countries which was first aroused, and the governments–especially France–followed in the wake of public opinion. There is, of course, the well-known Tripartite Declaration which is ostensibly designed to preserve the balance of forces between Israel and the Arab countries as well as to safeguard the integrity of the borders and peace in the region. But we never lull ourselves into the illusion that this declaration would serve as a barrier for the war like designs of the Arab rulers.
“Our bitter experience in the War of Independence and thereafter has shown us that if we have strength we will have peace, aid if not we, no one will stand up for us. Now, after the influx of arms to Egypt, I believe not only that the Israel Government, but also public opinion and perhaps some governments, have realized that the only thing that might deter the Egyptian dictator and his allies from war is to supply Israel with arms sufficient for its defense in the air, on the sea, and on the land. This realization,” Mr. Ben Gurion pointed out, “has not yet been followed up by action except by France which made an important contribution although far from the barest minimum.”
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.
