Newspaper Page Text
Vol. XLII
The Southern Israelite
...
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry - Established
“ oV#>«Lt
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, December 29, 1967
No. 52
U.S. Final Decision on Arms
Seen Awaiting Eshkol Visit
Israel an\
Important
Agreements
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Presi
ded Johnson has deferred a de
cision on supplying significant
new arms to Israel, including
the P-4 phantom jet fighter-
ooming visit of Prime Minister
bomber, iat least until the
Levi Eshkol, highly-placed United
States officials have disclosed.
The officials said that the
White House was convinced that
a dangerous arms imbalance in
the Middle East did not exist
because of the supply of 48
Douglas Skyhawk jet bombers
to Israel. Purchased in 1966,
thp -jet bombers are now being
- produced and delivered to Israel.
The President, nevertheless,
described the situation in the
Middle East as “dangerous,”
using that term twice in a
nationally-televised interview.
Tjie President expressed doubt
that his summer conference in
Glassboro, N.J. with Soviet
Premier Kosygin, though “very
useful,” had “really helped solve
any of the problems of the
Middle East.”
The President keyed his com
ments to the five-point program
he enunciated on June 19. These
were the right of all nations in
the Middle East to live in peace,
acceptance by all of the right
of existence of each nation,
freedom of navigation in inter
national waterways, solution of
the Arab refugee problem, and
limitation of the Middle East
arms race.
President Johnson said that
Kosygin understood the five
points and that "he did not agree
with them but I think the Soviet
Union understands that we feel
very strongly about this matter.”
He said the United Nations ap
pointment of Gunnar Jarring as
a special Middle East envoy had
led him to be “hopeful” that
his five-point program could be
worked out and that "a perma
nent solution can be found to
that very difficult problem.”
He said again that the Middle
East deadlock was “one of our
most dangerous situations.”
Date of Trip
Moved Up
To January
JERUSALEM (JTA)— Prime
Minister Levi Eshkol’s visit to
the United States, to oonfer with
President Johnson, has been
moved up by a month, and will
take plaoe in January, instead of
February, as previously schedul
ed, it was announced here. The
announcement said the earlier
date was set at the request of
the White House, because of
changes in the time-table of the
U. S. Congress.
Mr. Eshkol is due to leave Is
rael January 5, and will arrive
at New York’s International Air
port that day. He will stay in
New York overnight, and will
confer with President Johnson
during the next two or three days.
The place for the conference, it
was indicated, has not yet been
Billy Graham
Voices Support
NEW YORK (JTA) — Billy
Graham, America’s leading evan
gelist, support Israel’s efforts to
negotiate directly with the Arabs,
and urges Israeli officials not to __ ____
yield to pressures that could jeo
pardize their nation’s physical Pretty Traffic CODS
security.
TEL AVIV (JTA)—A three-
year agreement under which
Rumania will buy 150,000 tons
of Israeli phosphates annually,
and a civil gviation transport
pact have been signed here.
Signing for Rumania was visit
ing Foreign Trade Minister
Gheorghe Cioara; Zeev Sharef,
Trade and Industry Minister,
signed for Israel.
The agreements included pro
vision for a mixed commission
created on the basis of a wide-
range economic, scientific and
trade pact signed last April 14.
Rumania is the only Communist
country which did not break re
lations with Israel during the
Six-Day War last June. .,
Officials of both delegations
noted with satisfaction the pro
gress achieved to date in trade
relations. The commission also
will examine possibilities of fur
ther expansion of economic and
technical cooperation between
the two countries. El A1 Air-
Romney and Percy
Make Coinciding
Visits to Israel
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Gov.
George Romney of Michigan left
for Jordan after a whirlwind
two-day visit to Israel during
which he met with Premier Levi^. determined—nit will be either in
Eshkol, Foreign Minister Abba Washington or in Texas.
Eban and Chief of Staff Yitzhak
Rabin.
Sources said that the Gover
nor, an announced candidate for
the Republican presidential
nomination in 1968, avoided
committing himself to specifics
in his conversations. He was
understood to have concentrated
on the Viet Nam situation rather
than the Middle East.
The Governor was in Israel
simultaneously with another
presidential hopeful, Sen.
Charles Percy of Illinois, but the
two men did not meet.
Mr. Graham’s views on Israel
and Jews appear in an article
published in the current issue of
the ADL Bulletin, national organ
of the Anti-Defamation League
of B’naa B’rrth. He said he is con
vinced that Jerusalem will be re
united as a Jewish city, and is
certain that Jews will provide
Christians and Muslims free ac
cess to all holy places.
The evangelist sought the op
portunity-to clarify bis views, 41m
article says, because he was
turbed by the arttdtude
Jews of some evangelicals” and
by the fact that, “while dialogue
between American Jews and moat
denom motions of American
Christians was increasing, it re
mained almost nonexistent be- I tions.
tween Jews and evangelicals.
GOP Leader
Hits Johnson
NEW YORK (JTA)—Rep. Ger
ald R. Ford, Republican leader in
the House of Representatives, a J ■ J *r I I U
criticized President Johnson for /AQ milieu IO U IN
Cause Traffic Jams
ROME (JTA) — Three attrac
tive, smartly uniformed girls
from Israel caused a traffic jam
in one of Rome’s busiest inter
sections, though their intention
was just the opposite. The
girls, members of Israel’s traf
fic police corps, were sent here
for a week’s stay in connection
with the opening of Israel Week
at a large shopping center on tb'
Via Tritone. They were assigned
to direct traffic for several
hours a day on the Piazza Bar-
berini, where several roads con
verge. Italian motorists, how
ever, paid more attention to the
girls than 'to .their traffic direc-
lines officials immediately began
planning flights to Rumania.
The trade pact provides an
option for Rumania to buy an
additional 50,000 tons of Israeli
phosphates annually. The phos
phates will be used in Rumanian
plants to produce chemical fer
tilizers.
Thwart Attacks
By Terrorists
On Christians
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Security
sources said the arrest of 56
terrorists in the West Bank area
wrecked plans for widespread
acts of terrorism against Chris
tian pilgrims coming to the
holy places during the Yule
holiday.
The report came against a
background of continuing Arab
guerrilla actions in the West
Bank sector. In the latest inci
dent, an Arab infiltrator was
killed when an Israeli patrol
clashed with a group of seven
intruders after a number of
mortar shells exploded near Yad
Hanna in the Samaria district
east of Hadera. There were no
Israeli casualties.
The security sources said that
the 56 arrested terrorists all
members of Ahmed Shukairy’s
“Palestine Liberation Front,”
had planned to carry out a num
ber of incidents in the Bethle
hem area against Christian pil
grims and that it was for this
reason that a large number of
the intruders had concentrated
in tike area. The sources said
that the intruders found shelter*
in a number of villages to avoid
being conspicuous as * large
group in one place.
New Arab State
A Helping Hand
Urge Retention
Of Captured
Territories
JERUSALEM (JTA)—An au
dience of 3,000 that included
many prominent Israelis, among
them Nobel Laureate tS. Y.
Agnon, attended a rally here of
the new “Movement for a Whole
Eretz Israel,” and heard an
equally distinguished group of
speakers urge permanent reten
tion by Israel of all territories
captured during the Six-Day
War. However, opposition to
the “movement” has also de
veloped.
Among the speakers were
Mrs. Rachel Ben Zvi, widow of
Israel’s second President, Yitz
hak Ben Zvi; Dr. Haim Yahil,
head of the Government’s and
Jewish Agency’s Center for the
Diaspora; and Brigadier Gen.
A braham Yoffe, a division com
mander in the Sinai pensinula
during the June war.
General Yoffe drew cheers
when he declared that the cease
fire lines afford Israel security
along her borders for the first
time in 19 years, in contrast to
the pre-June boundaries which
were "a nightmare.”
his srtaitement on Israeli security,
which, Mr. Ford said, obscured
“the credibility of American com
mitment to Israel.” In an inter
view broadcast locally by Radio
Station WABC, the key station of
the American Broadcasting Com
pany, Congressman Ford empha
sized the need for firmer sup
port of Israel, including the sale
of new arms far Israel.
The Michigan Republic a n,
speaking in his official capacity
as minority leader, criticized the
Administration for what he term
ed a “vague and weak response
to Israel’s life-or-death needs.”
Rep. Ford said: “President
Johnson’s recent comments over
the networks, in my judgment,
were not very sharp or precise
in most of the topics touched
upon, 'but particularly confusing
concerning Israel. Until the Pres
ident clarifies his position, the
credibility of America’s commit
ment to Israel seems to have been
clouded even more than it was
by Administration inaction last
summer.”
The Republican spokesman said
he was “discouraged by the
grudging and very slow move
ment of the Administration to
ship vitally required arms, es
pecially jet planes, to Israel, to
balance the massive resupply by
the Communists of some Arab na
tions. This vague and weak res
ponse to Israel’s life-or-death
needs can only encourage Arab
truculence and further Commun
ist penetration. More than the
fate of Israel is at stake. The na
tional security interests of the
United States are vary directly
involved.” ,
UNITED NATIONS (WUP)—
The People’s Republic of South
ern Yemen, the newly-inde-
pendent Arab nation on the
southern .tip of the Arabian
Peninsula, has been admitted to
the United Nations becoming the
123rd Member State of the
world organization.
Addressing the General As
sembly following his country’s
admittance, Foreign Minister
Said Ahmad Dhalee spoke glow
in'-ly on the aims of his nation.
“We shall strive to achieve peace
in the world and to avert war
and. its horrors,” he said. How
ever, he served notice to the UN
that South Yemen will work
hand in hand with the other
Arab States in aiding the “Arab
people of Palestine” who “are
deprived of their right to self-
determination and sovereignty
over their own country.”
Later, in a meeting with the
UN press corps, he refused to
commit himself on the question
of Israeli shipping through the
narrow waterway leading from
the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Lawyer Deported
JERUSALEM (JT*A) — A
Ramallah lawyer, Ibrahim Bakr,
was deported to Jordan for in
citing West Bank residents to
refuse to cooperate with Israeli
authorities. Bakr was banished
from his home for three months
last July for similar reasons,
but resumed his subversive ac
tivities when the exile order
expired-
HOMEWARD BOUND - An Israel ambulance driver helping a
wounded Egyptian prisoner of wav to beard a plane for his re
turn to Egypt.