AMENDMENT SOUGHT BY BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25547, 15 July 1948, Page 5

AMENDMENT SOUGHT BY BRITAIN

The main British amendment to the United States resolution seeks to eliminate the American reference to “the Provisional Government of Israel’’ and substitute “the other party.” The reason for the change is that Britain has not recognised the State of Israel. The United States resolution said that the cease-fire should be effective within three days of the adoption of the resolution and, if either side refused to obey, it would automatically be responsible for a breach of the peace and subject to all the penalties the United Nations could impose. Mr Faris el Khoury introduced a resolution calling on the Council to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice regarding Palestine’s international status. In his report to the Security Council, Count Bernadotte suggested that during the proposed truce a plebiscite should be conducted in Palestine to resolve the more important issues in dispute. Both Mr Gromyko, the Russian delegate, and the representative of the Ukraine said that the proposal for a plebiscite was contrary to the partition plan of the General Assembly. In Amman yesterday, Azzam Pasha, secretary-general of the Arab League, said that complete agreement had been reached for a vigorous renewal of the Arabs’ military efforts to rescue Palestine.

Britain was accused of surrendering to the United States’ views about Palestine in a statement issued last night by the Arsb Office in London. The statement described as most mistaken and dangerous Britain’s supposed opinion that the setting up of the Jewish State would solve the Palestine problem. It added that 'if attempts to force the Arab governments to accept the Jewish State were to succeed, there would be a disastrous explosion in the Middle East. The present Arab setup was favourable to the West, but if it passed away it would be succeeded by new forces and new policies from which the West would have nothing agreeable to expect, The United States Department of State has disclosed that customs officials on its orders yesterday seized two Constellation transport aeroplanes at Millville. New Jersey, on suspicion that they were preparing to depart illegally to Palestine, The planes are owned by the Service Airways Company of New York, the president of wnich is Mr Irving Schandler, the pilot of the Flying Fortress which was detained on Tuesday pt. Halifax, Nova Scotia, whan the authorities suspected that it was on its way to Palestine. The “New York Herald Tribune” says that the Halifax authorities have revealed that they found in the Flying Fortress machine-gun mountings in the tail, belly, and nose, belts for feeding cartridges, and about 200 bomb-holders.