Eisenhower’s “Second Thoughts” Welcomed

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28216, 2 March 1957, Page 11

Eisenhower’s “Second Thoughts” Welcomed

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

(Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 28. What are described as the •‘second thoughts” of President Eisenhower on the Middle East crisis are welcomed by sections of the British press. The “Daily Telegraph” says he appears at least to have begun descending, still somewhat tentatively. from the high horse on which he climbed last week. “It is much too early to say whether his feet are yet firmly on the ground, but American policy gives an impression of rather more flexibility,” says the newspaper. “For once public opinion has had a beneficial impact on foreign policy. “Domestic opinion in the United States has brought pressure to

bear on the President to modify his stand, and there seems little doubt that sanctions would not have commanded a two-thirds majority in the United Nations. "Certainly public opinion in Britain would not allow the United Kingdom to vote for sanctions. "As a result of these various pressures, not to mention Israel’s own courageous and justified obstinacy, Mr Eisenhower, in spite of his massive personal popularity with the American people, has been compelled to have second thoughts. "It is perfectly true,” the "Daily Telegraph" adds, “that a rush of sanity to the President’s head will not by itself cure all the ills of the Middle Eastern body politic, but it now seems possible to see a few steps ahead. llf it turns out that Israel has ; secured a satisfactory American assurance that the Gulf of Aqaba will be kept open. Mr Ben-Gurion has scored a major, victory.”