The Israeli Government will lodge a complaint against Britain at the U.N. Security Council in connection with the British Government’s threats against Israel, it was officially announced today. The announcement emphasized that the Israeli Government Is taking “an extremely serious and grave view” for the entire matter.
“The British Government is contemplating active military intervention in the Palestine war,” an official Israeli statement said. “We know now that British forces are en route to the Aqaba port. Plans have been completed to dispatch British forces to the Egyptian-Palestine Sinai border. During the past few days a considerable number of British fighters and bombers reached Transjordan. The British Government is actively considering the lifting of the embargo in order to supply Egypt and Transjordan with arms.
“These are not hasty moves. They have been carefully planned. British troops ?n Tripolitania are undergoing maneuvers under conditions aimed at Israel. The names of places in Israel are even being used in these military maneuvers.
“The British Government is now actively engaged in a smear campaign against Israe1 and is whipping up British public opinion against Israel and trying to neutralize the friendship of the United States for Israel. Britain is also seeking to maneuver Egypt into invoking the provisions of the 1936 British-Egyptian treaty. Indications point to the fact that the British Government is possibly embarking on an active military operation to present the U.N. Security Council with a fait accompli of armed British intervention.
“The British attempt to wrest the Negev from Israel began on November 29, 1947, and has been speeded up since the assassination of Count Folks Bernadotte, the J.N. Mediator for Palestine. The Israeli Government is bringing this matter to the United Nations and will present it to the Security Council, taking an extremely serious and grave view of these developments,” the statement concluded.
A spokesman for the Israeli Government emphasized that British action against Israel could materialize “within 24 hours” by Britain’s lifting of the arms embargo supplying the Arab countries with military equipment.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
