1968_4_arabisraelwar

UNITED STATES AND UNITED NATIONS / 169
1959 [Vol. 60], pp. 208-13): On February 11, 1957, John Foster Dulles,
the then Secretary of State, had handed Ambassador Eban a memorandum
expressing the U.S. view that the Gulf of Aqaba "comprehends international
waters and that no nation has the right to prevent free and innocent passage
in the Gulf and through the Straits giving access thereto," and pledging that
"the United States is prepared to exercise the right of free and innocent passage
and to join with others to secure general recognition of this right." On
February 20, 1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, "if, unhappily,
Egypt does hereafter violate" its obligation to allow Israel shipping to use the
Suez Canal or the Gulf of Aqaba "then this should be dealt with firmly by
the society of nations." UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold had made
it clear in January that any Egyptian resumption of a blockade was contrary
to earlier Security Council decisions, according to which "none of the parties
to the 1949 Armistice Agreement is entitled to claim belligerent rights, including
the application of such rights in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Strait of
Tiran." During the 1957 UN discussion many of the major maritime powers
made similar statements, supporting freedom of navigation through the Strait
of Tiran to Israel's port of Eilat. The legal principle involved was incorporated
in Article 16 of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea
and the Contiguous Zone.
Ambassador Goldberg noted in the Security Council, on May 29, 1967,
that both the Soviet Union and the United States were parties to this convention,
codifying basic international law. Consequently, he said, the Egyptian
attempt to reimpose the blockade jeopardized not only the rights of
Israel "but also the rights of all trading nations under international law."
U.S. Hesitates to Break Blockade
When the 1967 crisis erupted there was thus widespread support both in
the United States and among the Western maritime powers for the legal correctness
of Israel's position and sympathy for its demand of free passage.
However, when it came to translate this moral support into effective international
action to make Nasser give up the blockade, all the pledges and
assurances quickly melted away. Former President Eisenhower reportedly
replied to a query from the White House that the United States was bound
by a "commitment of honor" to keep the Strait open. In a press conference
on May 25, he reaffirmed the U.S. duty to maintain the right of passage for
American ships, but weakened the statement by adding that it was a UN
problem rather than a strictly American matter. He cautioned that "none
of us should hurry to become involved."
Similar hesitation marked the response of the administration and Congressional
leaders of both parties. While the President's clearest legal mandate
was to use United States flag ships in a direct unilateral challenge of the
blockade, political sentiment was strongly opposed to the U.S. going it alone.
Senators Harrison A. Williams (Dem., N.J.) and Wayne Morse (Dem.,