It is important that states outside our region apply a balanced attitude, that they do not exploit temporary tensions and divergences in the issues of global conflict, that they do not seek to win gains by inflaming fleeting passions, and that they strive to make a balanced distribution of their friendship among the states of the Middle East.
Now whether all the speeches of all the Great Powers this evening meet this criterion, everybody, of course, can judge for himself. I do not propose to answer in detail all the observations of the representative of the Soviet Union. I had the advantage of hearing the same things in identical language a few days ago from his colleague, the Soviet Ambassador in Israel. I must confess that I was no more convinced this evening than I was the day before yesterday about the validity of this most vehement and one-sided denunciation.
But surely world opinion, before whose tribunal this debate unrolls, can solve this question by posing certain problems to itself.
Who was it that attempted to destroy a neighboring state in 1948, Israel or its neighbors?
Who now closes an international waterway to the port of a neighboring state, Israel or the United Arab Republic?
Does Israel refuse to negotiate a peace settlement with the Arab states, or do they refuse to do so with it?
Who disrupted the 1957 pattern of stability, Israel or Egypt?
Did troops of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Algeria surround Israel in this menacing confrontation, or has any distinguished representative seen some vast Israeli colossus surrounding the area between Morocco and Kuwait?
I think that Israel has in recent days proved its steadfastness and vigor. It is now willing to demonstrate its instinct for peace. Let us build a new system of relationships from the wreckage of the old. Let us discern across the darkness the vision of a better and a brighter dawn.
