[Title] Washington's Comments on Japan's Policy during the Oil Crisis
U.S. SAYS IT REGRETS JAPAN'S ARAB STAND
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (Reuters) - The United States said today that it regretted that Japan had found it necessary to issue a pro-Arab statement urging Israel to withdraw from territories occupied during the war of 1967.
The Japanese Government said in a statement yesterday that depending on future developments, it might have to reconsider its policy toward Israel.
A State Department spokesman, George S. Vest, said that while the United States appreciated the difficulties Japan faced because of a threatened oil embargo from the Middle East, "We regret that the Japanese Government found it necessary to make a statement of this nature."
He said that the United States charge d'affaires in Tokyo, Thomas P. Shoesmith, had expressed this view to the Japanese.