Israel and the Suez

...If Egypt stops interfering with Israeli shipping, no one in Jerusalem will begrudge her additional income from Canal sources...

...It also wants machinery set up to guarantee the execution of all promises...

...Moreover, Israel wants to prove to the Arab people that she is not always and inevitably their enemy and does not take advantage of their embarrassments...

...In fact, however, the state of war was ended by the Armistice Agreement, and Egypt's argument was not accepted by the Security Council...

...It has taken a strictly hands-off attitude toward Egypt's nationalization more...

...Egypt's blockade is a violation of no fewer than three international agreements: the Constantinople Convention of 1888, which clearly states that all nations are to enjoy free passage through the Canal in times of both peace and war...

...It insists that any settlement of the freedom-of-passage question contain a direct reference to Israeli shipping...

...From the point of view of tactics, too, Israel sees no reason to place herself in the forefront of the struggle when, for the first time, there is a crisis in the area which doesn't involve her directly...

...What is more, Israel is not prepared to place herself at odds with all of Asia, which regards the nationalization of Suez as one more battle in the fight against colonialism...

...In view of Colonel Nasser's past, however, Israel naturally wants some insurance on this point...

...Cairo justified its actions with the simple claim: "We are in a state of war with Israel...

...Nevertheless, the world powers, or at all events Great Britain, indirectly sanctioned Egypt's illegal activities...

...While if does not oppose Egypt's nationalization move, it considers 'free passage' vital in the Canal Israel and the Suez By Uri Ra'anan Jerusalem There was a sharp contrast between Israel's reaction and that of the rest of the world to Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal...

...Even if this were true, under the terms of the Constantinople Convention it is not a valid excuse for denying a country free passage through the Canal...

...One Hebrew-language broadcast over Cairo Radio showed some appreciation of this attitude, but as yet there has been no sign that Egypt will express its thanks by lifting the blockade...

...Apparently, the Company members felt Cairo could do as it pleased so long as it didn't attempt to interfere where their interests were concerned...

...At that time, moreover, the British were still in military control of the Canal, but they made no move to register their displeasure with the blockade...

...For eight years now, Egypt has been illegally preventing the passage of ships bound for or coming from Israel...

...In the light of all this, Israel's reaction to the present crisis is crystal clear: As far as Israel is concerned, the question of nationalization and that of free passage arc completely unrelated...

...On this point, therefore, Israel agrees with those who refuse to let Colonel Nasser take unilateral action in the Canal Zone...

...the 1949 Armistice Agreement with Israel, especially Paragraph 1, which requires both sides to refrain from all warlike actions on land, sea and air...

...in Israel, no one was...

...Yet, the whole world stood calmly by and watched Egypt flout these international decisions...

...This is true not only in the Suez, but even in the international waters of the Gulf of Elath, and it applies not only to Israeli ships but to those flying the flags of countries with whom Egypt maintains normal relations...

...In the course of their many complaints about the blockade, Israel's leaders repeatedly warned that Egypt's unlawful behavior was merely "the thin end of the wedge...

...In the capitals of the major Western powers particularly, everyone was taken by surprise...

...The Suez Canal Company, it feels, never showed any concern for Israel's interests and there is no reason why Israel should now fight the battles of the Company or of those powers which refused to lift a finger to defend Israel's legitimate interests...

...The British tacitly complied with Cairo's demand that it be informed in advance of vessels about to visit the Gulf of Elath (although less than 50 per cent of its shoreline is Egyptian territory, the remainder belonging to Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia...

...Egypt also made its own rules and regulations while the Suez Canal Company was still supposedly in charge of the waterway...

...It was obviously just a matter of time, they said, until Colonel Nasser moved in and "grabbed" the Canal...

...While Israel does not deny that Egypt has a right to nationalize property on its own territory, it does object violently to any step that would tighten Cairo's grip on a waterway belonging to all nations...

...and the Security Council's 1951 resolution, reaffirmed in 1953, which specifically ruled that Egypt's blockade of the Suez Canal was unlawful and called upon Cairo to halt it...

...Indeed, the leaders of this country had the bitter satisfaction of being able to say, "We told you so...

...It must be admitted, however, that the London Conference sponsors, who once again have knuckled under to anti-Israeli feeling by not inviting Israel to the parley, have given Jerusalem little reason to hope that they have learned anything over the years...