Many Casualties Stir Israel to Self-Defense
Action; Possible Israeli. Guerrilla Resistance
Indicated;WarningnenewedAgainst Terrorism
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime
Minister Levi Eshkol reiterated at
a Cabinet meeting Israel's deter-
mination to continue its duty of
guarding the security of border
settlements in a statement re-
garded as another warning to
Jordan to halt all attacks whether
by terrorist infiltration or by shoot-
ing across the cease-fire lines.
He spoke shortly after Israeli
officials reported that very heavy
damage was inflicted on Jordanian
army and El Fatah commando
bases all along the East Bank of
the Jordan River in the day-long
air and artillery battle Friday.
Maj. Gen. Chaim Bar-Lev, Is-
raeli chief of staff, said the action
was even more concentrated than
that of last Feb. 15 when Israeli
jets and artillery struck heavy
blows at Jordanian gun positions
which had been shelling Israeli
border settlements. Gen. Bar-Lev
reported that on Friday many
more Jordanian and El Fatah posi-
tions were hit, among them the
big terrorist base at Karameh,
which came under air bombard-
ment. Damage at the Karameh
base, the principal target of Israel's
March 21 raid, was described as
severe.
The prime minister's warning
was contained in a report to the
Cabinet on the incidents last week_
and on the deliberations of the
United Nations Security Council,
which was called into urgent ses-
sion for the second time in 10
days on complaints by both Israel
and Jordan.
Despite the warnings, guerril-
las slipped into Hebron and
killed an Israeli Druze border
policemen and injured a com-
panion. A Hebron resident was
killed and a child injured in the
same attack because they were
in the line of fire. The intruders
opened fire on the police in a
Hebron market. The injured po-
liceman ran for reinforcements
while the other one chased the
intruders, who killed him and
made off. A curfew was imposed
on the area while a search for
the marauders was started.
Gen. Bar-Lev reported that
another heavily hit target was the
Jordanian township of Shunch
which had been evacuated of all
civilians and converted into an
El Fatah base. The police stations
at Addsiyah and Manshiyeh, which
had served as a springboard for
El Fatah incursions into the Bei-
san Valley, were completely de-
stroyed by Israeli artillery fire. A
Jordanian army c amp at Urn
Keiss, site of long-range artillery
emplacements, was also destroyed
as was a Jordanian army convoy
which Israeli planes spotted near-
by, he reported.
Israeli casualties in the Friday
fighting were one soldier killed,
three seriously wounded and five
slightly wounded. An Israeli jet
was hit by anti-aircraft fire over
Karameh but managed to return
to Israeli territory where the pilot
bailed out safely.
Damage on the Israeli side of
the demarcation line was con-
fined to civilian installations in
a chain of agricultural settle-
ments extending from the Sea
of Galilee in the North to Jericho
on the shores of the Dead Sea.
These came under heavy Jordan-
ian artillery and small arms
fire intermittently throughout
the day. No casualties were re-
ported among the settlers who
took to bomb shelters.
The Israeli settlements hit by
Jordanian guns were Massada,
Ashdot Yaacov, Tel Katzir, Shaar-
Hagolan, Kfar Ruppin, Beth Yo-
seph, Yardena and Gesher. It was
at Massada that four kibutz
members were killed when a
tractor-drawn platform on which
56 — Friday, April 5, 1968
they were riding hit a mine in a
banana plantation.
Prime Minister Eshkol visited
the damaged settlement Friday
evening. Gen. Bar-Lev spent the
night traveling from settlement
to settlement for a first hand as-
sessment of the damage. Speaking
to a group at Shaar Hagolan,
Eshkol said that the fight against
El Fatah terrorists was in some
respects more difficult than last
June's Six Day War. "There are
political mine fields we have to
cross," he said, noting that Israel
must consider world opinion and
the attitude of friendly nations. He
added, however, that Israel had a
variety of methods to deal with
the terrorists.
It was obvious from the damage
that the Jordanians were intent on
hitting civilians, destroying homes,
utilities and means of livelihood.
The children's home was hit at
Massada and the kindergarten was
hit at Tel Katzir. Cowsheds, chick-
en houses, water pumping systems
and electric power houses and
wires were blasted. A large ply-
wood factory near Ashdot Yaacov
was set afire. Volunteers poured
in from neighboring villages and
kibutzinn to help with repairs.
Diplomatic circles said the
United States and Great Britain
have privately warned the Arab
governments against continued
terrorist incursions against Israel.
Israel does not favor stationing
United Nations cease-fire observ-
ers along the Israel-Jordan de-
marcation line for fear that their
observations would necessarily
be one-sided, diplomatic circles
said. The proposal to place ob-
servers on the Jordan-Israel line
was made by U.S. Ambassador
Arthur J. Goldberg at an emer-
gency session of the Security
Council in New York.
The Israeli objections stem from
the fact that the guerrilla tactics
employed by the Arab raiders are
not easily observable since they
are carried out mainly at night by
small armed bands along a broad
front. On • the other hand, Israeli
counter-measures are conducted by
large forces who operate in day-
light. The UN observers would not
be able to detect Arab infiltrators
but they would mark Israeli
counter-measures, the Israelis say.
(Time Magazine, in a report
by its Israeli correspondent Ed-
ward Hughes, reported last week
that Asifa, the Arab "thunder-
storm" terrorist group, "has
marked Defense Minister Moshe
Dayan for assassination and has
sent a top agent into Israel to
do the job.").
Armed bandits were reported
roaming the cities and highways
of Jordan looting and assaulting
people at will in the wake of Fri-
day's air and artillery duels along
the Israel- Jordan demarcation
line. Jordanian army and police
units appeared unwilling, or un-
able, to intervene, according to
reports reaching here.
The United States Embassy in
_Amman has asked Jordanian au-
thorities to take measures to pro-
tect American citizens. Several
have been stopped at gunpoint
in Amman streets or waylaid in
their hotels or homes by armed
men demanding cash "contribu-
tions" for the El Fatah terror
gangs.
British nationals and visitors
from the West Bank also have
been assaulted. Commerce between
the East and West banks of the
Jordan came to a halt on Friday
as hundreds of West Bankers
poured over the Allenby Bridge
to return to their homes in Sa-
maria and Judaea. The eastward
movement of people, usually heavy
on weekends, was virtually at a
standstill. Taxi drivers on the
West Bank refused to take passen-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
gers into Jordan for fear of being
stopped and beaten by hoodlums
on the roads.
U.S. Volunteer Injured
in Incident at Massada
Intends to Stay in Israel
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Frederick
Rosenfeld, of Washington, the 26-
year-old volunteer who was one of
four persons injured in a mine
blast Friday south of Tiberias in
which four Israeli farmers were
killed, said he intended to remain
in Israel despite his injuries.
Taken to the hospital after the
explosion, he was found to be
suffering from multiple fractures
of one hand and shock but other-
wise not badly hurt. He asked
officials not to report his identity
but when he was told this was not
possible, he said "please tell my
folks I am not returning home."
He arrived in Israel five days ago
and was in the Massada kibutz
for two days. He had been slated
to start work on the kibutz Fri-
day and instead went to a hospital.
He and a group of kibutz mem-
bers were riding a platform behind
a tractor headed for a banana
plantation near the kibutz when
the platform hit the mine. Three
kibutz members were killed im-
mediately and the fourth died a
few minutes later. Four other vic-
tims, including the American vol-
unteer, were rushed to the hospi-
tal. None were critically injured.
An Israeli soldier was killed
and two were wounded in a clash
with Arab saboteurs in the Go-
lan Heights region, south of the
occupied Syrian town of Kunei-
tra Sunday night, a military
spokesman has announced. One
of the saboteurs was killed. He
was found to be carrying a
Russian-type assault gun and
two Russian-made hand gre-
nades.
A water pumping station was
damaged by explosive charges
Monday night at kibutz Neveh
Eitan in the southern Beisan Val-
ley as Jordanian units on the East
Bank of the river fired mortar
shells at nearby settlements.
The incidents occurred when
mortar shells fell in the Tirat Zvi
area. An hour later shells fell
near Maoz Chaim and an explo-
sion was heard at Neveh Eitan.
An investigation disclosed that ex-
plosives had been placed in the
pumping station, the first El Fatah
sabotage since last Friday's fight-
ing along the Israel-Jordan demar-
cation line.
A brief exchange of fire took
place shortly after midnight
Wednesday between Jordanian
positions opposite the Beisah Val-
ley and an Israeli patrol on the
West Bank, near Tira Zvi. The
firing, which lasted about five
minutes, followed a series of ex-
plosions in the neighborhood of
Maoz Chaim. An investigation
found no evidence of sabotage. It
is believed that Jordanian mortar
shells exploded harmlessly in a
field. No casualties were reported.
Two coffins which Jordanian
authorities claimed contained
the remains of Israeli soldiers
killed in the March 21 military
action against terrorist bases in
Jordan were found to be filled
with earth when they were
opened at the Tel Hashomer Hos-
pital here. Israel has asked the
International Red Cross to inter-
vene with Jordan for the return
of the two bodies.
The two earth-filled coffins and
a third coffin containing the re-
mains of an Israeli soldier, were
exchanged for 11 Jordanian pris-
oners of war at the Allenby Bridge
last Thursday. The flag-draped
coffins were accorded full military
honors, and traditional ritual
prayers were recited over them by
the chief chaplain of Israel's
armed forces.
LONDON (JTA)—Israeli leaders
are considering a switch to guer-
rilla tactics against the El Fatah
gangs operating from Jordan, the
London Daily Telegraph reported
in a dispatch from Tel Aviv. The
reason is the build-up of El Fatah
strength and the repercussions
caused by last Thursday's full-
scale military operation against
terrorist bases in Jordan for which
Israel was condemned by the Se-
curity Council, the Telegraph said.
However, while studies are under
way in Israel to deal with sabotage
by more flexible techniques, there
is no basic change in policy and
no weakening of resolve to defend
the country's security from sabo-
teurs and terrorists, the newspaper
asserted.
The Guardian reported from
Irbid in North Jordan that civilians
are leaving their villages en
masse, convinced that Israel is
massing troops along the border
for a new attack on Jordan. The
paper quoted Ismail Tahbob,
area secretary of the United Na-
tions Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA) who said that 50,000
people had left the northern Jor-
dan Valley in the past two months.
President Urged to Invite
Jordan, Israel to Peace
Talks on 6th Fleet Ship
NEW YORK (JTA)—The national
governing council of the American
Jewish Congress proposed that
President Johnson summon Prime
Minister Eshkol of Israel and King
Hussein of Jordan to meet for
peace talks aboard the flagship of
the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterra-
nean with himself as mediator.
President Johnson's personal in-
tervention was urged "in light of
the fact that the United States is
the only country that has consist-
ently maintained close relations
with Israel and Jordan and be-
cause the President is personally
friendly with both King Hussein
and Prime Minister Eshkol," the
AJC body said. It cited as a prece-
dent the initiative taken by Presi-
dent. Theodore Roosevelt in bring-
ing Russia and Japan to the peace-
table at Portsmouth, N.H. in 1905
to end the Russo-Japanese war.
The council, asserting that the
United Nations had failed to either
prevent aggression or bring about
a lasting peace, said the Security
Council resolution of March 24
"revealed a fundamental inability
to distinguish either cause and ef-
fect or aggressor and victim."
State Department Defends
Sending Weapons to Jordan
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The State
Department defended the decision
to supply United States arms to
Jordan and said that the U.S. gov-
ernment had "every reason to be-
lieve" that King Hussein "is sin-
cere in his determination to con-
trol terrorism" against Israel. The
State Department's assertion was
contained in a letter from Assist-
ant Secretary of State William B.
MacComber. Jr., to Representa-
tive Richard S. Schweiker, Penn-
sylvania Republican, who is a
member of the House Armed
Services Committee. But Mac-
Comber refused to fill Rep.
Schweiker's request for a detailed
list of the weapons approved for
Jordan.
The State Department's faith in
Hussein is , based, according to
MacComber's letter, on the fact
that the Jordanian king "spoke out
publicly against terrorism on Feb.
16." According to MacComber,
terrorism against Israel "unfortu-
nately is sustained by subversive
forces both within and outside of
Jordan" and "are not desired by
either Jordan or Israel."
The Republican Coordinating
Committee has urged the im-
mediate supply of supersonic
military jets to Israel to counter-
balance the latest model Soviet
jets being supplied to the Arabs
and declared that it was "deeply
disturbed" by the deteriorating
situation in the Middle East.
The statement by the committee
and its recommendations was re-
leased by Republican National
Chairman Ray C. Bliss. The com-
mittee includes among its mem-
bers, former Vice President Rich-
ard M. Nixon, candidate for the
Republican presidential nomina-
tion, Governor Nelson A. Racke-
feller, of New York, Senate Mi-
nority Leader Everett M. Dirksen
and House Leader Gerald R. Ford.
The committee reported that
"despite Israeli concern that only
American F-4 Phantoms might
match the new Soviet supersonic
SU-7 now in Egyptian hands," the
administration supplied Israel only
with the subsonic A-4 Skyhawks.
The committee charged that "even
supplying the older plane has
created difficulties, particularly
since the Democratic administra-
tion slowed the process down by
attempting to make a profit on the
sale of the Skyhawks to Israel."
The Republican leaders said that
in view of aggressive . Soviet ef-
forts to penetrate the Middle East
and in the absence of any big
power agreement to limit arms
shipments to the region, Israel
should receive American arms "to
maintain the balance of power and
to serve as a deterrent to renewed
open warfare." They called for
U.S. leadership in the UN and
elsewhere to secure a political set-
tlement providing for an end to
the state of belligerence.
President Johnson indicated at
his press conference March 30
that he was disappointed by the
new outbreak of violence in the
Middle East and stated that the
United States "would hope both
sides would be more amenable
to talking it out instead of fight-
ing it out." He said however that
he saw no evidence that the
Israelis and Arabs had reached
that point. -
The President said the United
States government was watching
the situation. He called the new
violence a "poor substitute" for
meeting world hopes for peace in
the Middle East.
The United States is shipping 100
Patton tanks and other weapons to
Jordan to make up losses, United
States officials said. Action is be-
ing taken to implement the new
arms deal signed last Thursday
in Amman.
Included in the transaction are
between 16 to 18 Supersonic Star-
fighter jets. Pilots are completing
training in Texas. Officials indi-
cated that the Israel government
had been informed of the transac-
tion and agreed that it was neces-
sary to bolster the Hussein regime
to prevent introduction of Soviet
arms.
Strong protests against the arm-
ing of Jordan were heard in the
U.S. Congress in the past 10 days
and there were condemnations of
the extreme actions against Israel
at the United Nations.
The U.S. position was denounced
by Senators George Murphy of
California, Hugh Scott of Pennsyl-
vania and Peter Dominick of
Colorado.
In the House of Representatives,
the U.S. position was assailed by
Congressmen John J. Rhodes of
Arizona, chairman of the House
Republican Policy Committee;
Joel T. Broyhill of Virginia, Sey-
mour Halpern of New York and
Schweiker.
Israel Ambassador Yitzhak Ra-
bin, former chief of staff, referred
to the Security Council resolution
and statements made in the Coun-
cil debate, when he addressed the
Rabbinical Assembly meeting in
Kiamesha Lake, and warned Jor-
dan that neither it nor the ter-
rorists it is harboring "will dictate
to us how to react or in what pro-
portion."