Israel has been compelled to resort to the right of self-defense all nations have to protect its citizens and territory against Jordanian aggression, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said today in comment on this morning’s reprisal action. He charged that the Jordanian Government, instead of ending a campaign of aggression to which Israelis have been subjected, is actually encouraging its continuation.
The spokesman asserted that only a few days ago King Hussein himself had ordered the release, near the Israel frontier, of the men who had murdered three Israeli Druzes last month. He added that although the Israeli representatives had transmitted to the Jordan authorities on October 8 the names of the men responsible for the murder of five Israelis near Sodom and testimony indicating they had operated with the knowledge and support of the local Jordanian police, there had been no action taken by the Jordanians.
The spokesman said that Israel reiterates its cease-fire pledge of September 26 and looked to Secretary General Hammarskjold and Major General Burns to take the necessary steps to ensure Jordan’s observance of the cease fire.
The Israeli spokesman complained, however, that the United Nations organs “remain powerless before the onslaught of Jordanian aggression.” In these circumstances, he added, Israel thus found herself faced with the need to use her own means to halt the constant breach of the peace. He declared that the action last night and this morning was directed “against one of Jordan’s centers of aggression.”
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.
