President Eisenhower Statement on
Hostilities Between Israel and Egypt
(November 9, 1955)
ALL AMERICANS have been following with deep concern
the latest developments in the Near East. The recent outbreak of hostilities
has led to a sharp increase in tensions. These events inevitably retard
our search for world peace. Insecurity in one region is bound to affect
the world as a whole.
While we continue willing to consider request for arms
needed for legitimate self-defense, we do not intend to contribute to
an arms competition in the Near East because we do not think such a
race would be in the true interest of any of the participants. The policy
which we believed would best promote the interests and the security
of the peoples of the area was expressed in the Tripartite Declaration
of May 25, 1950. This still remains our policy.
I stated last year that our goal in the Near East as
elsewhere is a just peace. Nothing has taken place since which invalidates
our fundamental policies, policies based on friendship for all of the
peoples of the area.
We believe that true security must be based upon a
just and reasonable settlement. The Secretary of State outlined on August
26th the economic and security contributions which this country was
prepared to make towards such a solution. On that occasion I authorized
Mr. Dulles to state that, given a solution of the other related problems,
I would recommend that the United States join in formal treaty engagements
to prevent or thwart any effort by either side to alter by force the
boundaries between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Recent developments have made it all the more imperative
that a settlement be found. The United States will continue to play
its full part and will support firmly the United Nations which has already
contributed so markedly to minimize violence in the area. I hope that
other nations of the world will cooperate in this endeavor, thereby
contributing significantly to world peace.
Sources: Public Papers of the President |