The Israel Government today informed some of the Big Powers that deterioration of the political situation in the Arab countries, particularly in Syria, constitutes a source of the gravest concern for the Jewish state.
The government asked the Big Powers to use their influence with Transjordan and Iraq and to urge these countries to refrain from any interference in Syrian affairs. Otherwise, Israel would be compelled to reconsider its attitude with regard to events in the neighboring countries, it was emphasized. The Israel Government pointed out that Iraq has never even signed an armistice agreement with the Jewish state and is therefore formally still at war with Israel.
The Tel Aviv press, announcing that Israel will oppose the invasion by Transjordan or Iraq, or both, into Syria, reports that feverish diplomatic activities have been taking place during the past 24 hours in Damascus and in Bagdad. Hador, organ of the Israel Labor Party, says that it is not as yet clear whether the contemplated invasion of Syria will be carried out by Transjordan or by Iraq or by both together, but stresses the fact that various sources report that Syria is about to face a decisive test for her independence.
“Israel, whose foreign policy is based on fundamental principles of peace and stability, will vigorously oppose any move on the part of Transjordan or Iraq to occupy Syria,” the paper states. “In the event of an invasion of Syria it will be difficult to limit the area of conflict to Syria alone as desired by the invaders, because the possibility exists for raising political issues, which would revive the whole question of the present armistice agreements between Israel and the Arab countries.”
The article points out that Iraq has not yet signed any armistice agreement with Israel and is, more than any of the other Arab countries, an enemy of the Jewish state. “With Iraq’s entry into Syria our present arrangement with Syria would be liable to revision while we are confronted with the possibility of facing tomorrow a neighbor state which has not signed an armistice with us,” Hador says.
A split of the Arab world into two hostile factions with far-reaching consequences which might disturb order and stability in the Middle East is predicted by the paper. Egypt’s warning against interference by Transjordan and Iraq in the present Syrian crisis will find Egypt fighting for Syrian independence, the Israel labor organ declared.
(A report from Damascus by Reuters said today that Premier Khaled al-Azam of Syria last night formed a new cabinet acceptable to the army’s officers who carried put the Dec. 19 coup d’etat–Syria’s third in nine months. Six members of the Cabinet are considered firm supporters of an independent republican regime. None of the other members are strong supporters of a federation with Iraq or Transjordan.)
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.
