MIDDLE EAST WAR FEARS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27896, 18 February 1956, Page 9

MIDDLE EAST WAR FEARS

Israel Seeks Arms Supplies

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9 p.m.) TEL AVIV, February 16. S- I }h" c nd ? Ussia ha 4 u P se t the military balance in the Middle East by supplying arms to Egypt, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr David Ben-Gurion, said in Tel Aviv today. A\ar m the Middle East could be" prevented only if Israel received arms, he said. Mr Ben-Gurion, who was addressing a Defence Fund meeting, said he doubted that any British, American and French declaration on the Middle East would be a sufficient guarantee of Israels security. Israel had asked Britain to sell her only six Centurion tanks, but her request was rejected, he said. Israel was negotiating with friendly nations, particularly the United States, but “we are unable to say whether we will get arms of the same quantity as those supplied to Egypt through Britain and Russia.

SHIPMENTS HALTED

U.S. Bans Saudi Arabian Order (Rec. 11.45 p.m.) WASHINGTON. February 17. The United States Government, reacting to strong Congressional protests, early today halted the delivery of 18 light United States tanks to Saudi Arabia. Cancellation of the shipment came 12 hours after the disclosure yesterday that the tanks were ready for loading aboard the freighter James Monroe and that the ship was due to sail from New York today. The disclosure brought demands for a Senate investigation and a denunciation of the shipment by the Israeli ambassador, Mr Abba Eban. Shipments to Israel also come under the ban. At 12.30 a.m. today the Government announced: “All export permits to the Middle East are being temporarily suspended pending further examination.” The announcement was made almost simultaneously by the State Department in Washington and by President Eisenhower’s Press Secretary, Mr James Hagerty, at the temporary White House in Thomasville, Georgia. The United Press said the action meant that the tanks could not legally be delivered to Saudi Arabia even if the ship sailed with them as scheduled. Early this morning, the tanks still were aboard barges preparatory to being put aboard ship. Members of the Zionist Youth Council arrived at the pier before dawn to picket the loading area. Members of the ship s crew were reported to be grumbling about the nature of the cargo before they learned of the Government’s action. The suspension of arms shipments applied not only to Saudi Arabia but to all nations in the Middle East. The State Department spokesman, Mr Lincoln White, said that the ban covered not only the tank shipment but also any other shipments that might be in process. But he said he had no immediate information that any other arms shipment preparations to the Middle East were being made. Mr White had said previously that the 18 tanks involved were to be' used by the Saudi Arabians for training purposes and that the purchase was made last year before tensions between Israel and her. Arab neighbours reached a fever pitch.