Israel Doubtful of Egyptian Confrontation;
Friday, September 27, 1968-7
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Explosion, Fire Gut Israel Exhibit
Suez Moves Are Seen as a Pressure Tactic in Buenos Aires; Arabs Suspected
It gave rise to speculation here
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel
does not believe that Egypt is
seeking an all-out military con-
frontation at this time, but neither
Is ,she seeking peace, authoritative
diplomatic sources said.
According to these sources,
Egypt's military escalation along
the Suez Canal does not fore-
shadow a general flare-up but
may be Egypt's way of focusing
attention on the area to create
pressure for the withdrawal of
Israeli forces _from the east bank
of the canal.
They said that Egypt may be
seeking a partial settlement that
would lead to the canal's reopen-
ing. But Israel stands firm that
a withdrawal from the canal can
take place only in the context of
a formal peace treaty and that
Were must be freedom of passage
for ships of all flags, including
Israel's.
These sources conceded that
Ume has not conclusively worked
In Israel's favor. The world and
the United Nations have not shown
any more readiness to accept the
fact of Israel's presence on the
Suez Canal and in other Arab
areas than they did 15 months ago.
On the other hand, they said, the
situation from Israel's standpoint
is better now than it was after the
Sinai campaign of 1956 when the
UN demanded Israel's withdrawal
under pain of sanctions. "With
this reality in mind, one can say
that the immediate political aims
of Israel have been achieved,"
they said.
(A London Daily Telegraph dis-
patch from Cairo contradicted
recent press reports that the
Egyptian capital was in the throes
of "war fever." According to cor-
xespondent Eric Downton, "As far
as I can judge, major hostilities
are not imminent unless Israel
strikes exceed the major incident
level."
Downton reported that Cairo
was as normal as it has been at
any time since the June, 1967 war.
The public learns from the press
that the Army has been strength-
ened along the Suez Canal to coun-
ter possible Israeli attacks, he
said, "but the official Egyptian
attitude is still one of hope for a
peaceful solution through the
United Nations resolution, although
preparations are being made in
the event the Jarring mission
fails," according to the writer.)
Foreign Minister Abba Eban
told a press conference that
Israel was neither disappointed
nor surprised by the "tepid"
resolution adopted by the Secur-
ity Council Sept. 18 calling on
Israel and the Arabs to observe
the ceasefire.
"Disappointment presupposes
some hope," Eban said. "But
Israel knew beforehand that the
character and composition and
shortcomings of the Security Coun-
cil seal its lips and paralyze its
hands."
He said that Israel's complaint
had a two-fold purpose—to make
it clear to Egypt that Israel will
not always be on the receiving end
of incidents and to impress world
-,_- opinion with Egypt's guilt for the
escalation along the Suez Canal.
The foreign minister said that
there were some members of the
Security Council who wanted to
state Egypt's guilt in a resolution,
'but the automatic Soviet support
of the Arabs and the Big Powers'
unwillingness to become involved
In a direct confrontation over the
Middle East issue brought this at-
tempt to nought," he said.
Question Wisdom of Sending
Officers Against Guerrillas
Following Death of Two
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Questions
were raised anew in some quar-
ters here over the wisdom of send-
ing high-ranking army officers
into front-line combat against
Arab guerrillas.
The policy was questioned as the
nation mourned the deaths in ac-
il
Ir
tion Friday of Lt. Col. Moshe
Peles, a paratroop commander,
and Maj. Doron Manor, who led
their men in a brief but violent
skirmish with an El Fatah gang
in the hills near the West Bank
town of Jenin.
Six Israeli soldiers, including
the two officers, were killed and
four were wounded when their
patrol was ambushed. A military
spokesman said the El Fatah band
was later wiped out.
Military sources said, however,
that army officers will continue
to lead their men and will continue
to order "follow me" and not "for-
ward." They maintained that the
policy of officers-to-the-front was
responsible in great measure for
the high morale of Israeli troops
and distinguished Israeli fighting
forces from the armies of most
other countries. But, the feeling
was growing in other quarters that
Israel can ill afford to risk the
loss of some of her best trained,
most experienced officers in rela-
tively minor clashes with guer-
rillas.
Lt. Col. Peles was, in addition
to being a brilliant soldier, one
of Israel's national heroes of
the Six-Day War. He distin-
guished himself in the fierce
battle to drive the Jordanian
army out of East Jerusalem, and
it was he who hoisted the Israel
flag over the city on June 8,
1967, climbing to the cupola of
the El Aksa mosque, the highest
point in the old walled city,
while snipers' bullets whistled
around him.
Maj. Manor too, was considered
one of the most promising young
officers. The son of a member of
the Irgun Zvai Leumi, the military
underground organization of the
Mandate period, he rose in rank
from private to major. He was
married only a year ago.
Friday's battle in which the two
officers died was acknowledged to
have been the most serious en-
counter to date with guerrilla
forces. The fact that it occurred
11 miles west of the Jordan River,
deep inside Israel-ocupied terri-
tory, was also regarded as serious.
Agnew Supports
Military Help
by U.S. to Israel
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Gov.
Spiro T. Agnew of Maryland, the
Republic an Vice Presidential
nominee, declared that Unite d
States military aid to Israel "is
imperative to deter any threat of
war" and to "preserve the equili-
brium of peace." Agnew made
his statement, his first on the Mid-
dle East, in a letter to the Amer-
ican Israel Public Affairs Commit-
tee here. He asserted that "The
security of American and the se-
curity of Israel's rights and free-
doms are one and inseparable;
that in supporting the cause of
Israel in its search for freedom
and the right to live in peace,
Americans a r e supporting the
cause of the United States in its
involvement with all the world's
nations."
- Gov. Agnew said America should
"bring its full influence to bear
upon the Soviet Union to end its
present policy of 'propelling the
Middle East toward a fatal con-
frontation."
Meanwhile, Jordan acused both
Presidential candidates Hubert H.
Humphrey and Richard M. Nixon
of heightening Middle East ten-
sions by makitig allegedly reck-
less campaign promises to Israel.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel
Moneim Rifai attacked Humphrey
and Nixon in an angry statement
in Cairo. His comments followed
Egyptian claims that a U.S. armor
shipment arrived in Israel. Rifai
heaped special scorn on Nixon for
stating that the military balance
should be tipped in Israel's favor
to deter aggression.
and abroad as to whether Israel
would take retaliatory action, when
and in what form.
Meanwhile, it was learned that
the commander of the terrorist
gang responsible for placing ex-
plosives in trash containers in
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv has been
caught. Adb el-Rahim Jaber of
Hebron, who has been a fugitive
since the group's members were
apprehended, after placing explo-
sives at Tel Aviv's central bus
station, was wounded and taken
alive by an Army patrol in the
desert south of the Dead Sea when
he tried to cross into Jordan.
A child was injured in the Jor-
danian shelling of Moshav Yar-
dena in the Beisan Valley. A water
storage tank was damaged at
Moshav Avivim on the Lebanese
border.
Israeli border police, mounted
on jeeps, patrolled Nablus Sept.
19 as 500 local high school girls
carried out a peaceful, if occa-
sionally noisy demonstration.
The girs, who marched in an
orderly manner past the mili-
tary governor's compound, were
protesting the Israeli policy of
demolishing houses that belong
to or are used by terrorists.
They stopped at the recently de-
molished house of an El Fatah
member. But beyond shouts of -
"Nasser, Nasser" and "Allah Is
Great," the demonstration was
without incident.
Herut Party leader Menachem
Beigin repeated his call for the
"widespread and rapid" settle-
ment by Israel of the occupied
Arab territories. Beigin, minister-
without-portfolio in the national
coalition government, spoke at a
meeting of his party's central
committee. He said his proposal
was necessary "to counter the
threats of our enemies."
One of Israel's first television
broadcasts will be the video-taped
trial of a Gaza judge accused of
having organized a terrorist group
and of having collected intelligence
for Eypt. The trial of Judge Adeb
Shunrad, 46, will be taped for
future telecast, it was announced
here.
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News) .
BUENOS AIRES—Arab terror-
ists are suspected in connection
with an explosion and fire that
destroyed a $1,500,000 Israeli com-
mercial exhibit at the Municipal
Fair Grounds in the heart of
Buenos Aires Wednesday. The fire
was started by two incendiary
bombs and took five hours to bring
under control.
The exhibit, which arrived here
from Israel last month, was to
have opened Oct. 5 as part of an
international trade fair here.
It consisted of industrial and
agricultural equipment, house-
ware, appliances and a small
Israel-made airplane. It was the
first Israeli display of its kind in
Argentina.
Two explosions were heard at
about 10 p.m. local time as about
40 workers were busy on the site.
Fire brigades arrived shortly
afterward, but the flames were
fanned by high winds.
The Israeli exhibit occupied
ground donated for the purpose by
the Argentine government.
Meanwhile, a widespread police
search has turned up no evidence
leading to the perpetrators of a
bombing a t t e m pt against the
Nachman Gesang Zionist Center in
Rosario City Monday night, the
second night of the Jewish New
Year,
The bomb, placed near the main
entrance to the building, blew in
the door, damaged the walls and
shattered windows in nearby
homes. There were no casualties.
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