The Israeli Ambassador saw me on May 28 and June 1 to make representations about the UAR's detention of Israeli-chartered ships in the Suez canal and seizure of their cargoes, the most recent case that of the Danish ship Inge Toft, with cargo from Haifa to Hong Kong. The Israelis have nearly decided that, if the seizure of the Inge Toft's cargo as war booty is confirmed, they will bring the case before the Security Council, in expectation of a Soviet veto and a subsequent reference of the complaint by the Council to a special session of the General Assembly. They consider that a direct Israeli request for an Assembly session, which would require the concurrence of a majority of members, would not be feasible. The Israeli Govern-ment would like to know as soon as possible the views of other governments, and in particular that of Canada as a member of the Security Council, on what attitude they would adopt should the Israeli Government proceed with its plan.

2. I informed the Israeli Ambassador that I would have to seek your views on this question. However, I expressed the preliminary view that the question of timing was important, not only because of the continuing uncertainty about events in the Middle East generally but also because of the possibility that controversy in the Security Council might tend to upset the Geneva negotiations. The Ambassador agreed that it was unfortunate that the incident had occurred when it did and added that he had no indication of when his Government might wish to proceed.

3. An important consideration is the success or failure of current attempts being made in private to persuade the UAR authorities to abandon or substantially modify their present policy. If you approve, I would recommend that we defer a reply to the Israeli Ambassador pending a fuller knowledge of the outcome of representations already made to the UAR Government by the United Nations Secretary General and the United States Ambassador in Cairo. I have already asked our own Ambassador if he thinks Canadian representations would have any useful effect, and we are investigating the possibility that the Security Council, or possibly the Danish authorities, should seek to have the substance of the Israeli complaint transferred to the International Court. The Israeli Ambassador's initial reaction was that his Government would probably be unable or unwilling to go to the Court itself, but I think there might be considerable advantage nonetheless in avoiding a contentious debate in the political organs of the United Nations at this stage.

4. Since press coverage (e.g. this morning's Globe and Mail editorial) may give rise to parliamentary questions,⁵¹⁶ I attach a suggested reply? which you may wish to have at hand.

N.A. ROBERTSON

⁵¹⁶La question fut posée au Parlement le 9 juillet. Voir Canada, Chambre des communes, Débats, 1959, Vol. V, pp. 6025 à 6026.
The issue was raised in Parliament on July 9. See Canada, House of Commons, Debates, 1959, Vol. V, pp. 5745-46.