United States Ambassador Edward B. Lawson has held an hour’s conference with Israel’s Foreign Minister, Mrs. Golda Meir, expressing the Washington government’s hope that Israel will continue to refrain from intervening in Jordan’s crisis. Mr. Lawson initiated the meeting after he had met earlier for a private talk with Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.
Diplomatic observers here felt that America’s repeated advice to Israel against intervention in Jordan was actually likely to embolden some of the Arab states in their plans to partition Jordan among themselves. Such plans would implement indirect Soviet intervention through Egypt and Syria, while the U.S.A. was “holding Israel back, ” observers believed. Official government sources said today they have information the Syria has added a fourth battalion to the three it already had on duty in Jordan, while Iraq has moved two battalions to the Jordanian border.
The Foreign Minister is understood to have assured Mr. Lawson once more that Israel will start no action against Jordan, as long as the crisis there remains internal and as long as the situation does not deteriorate further. Mrs. Meir is understood, however, to have stated that Israel must reserve its freedom to defend its own vital interests if conditions alter.
During their meeting, Mr. Lawson and Mrs. Meir discussed also the views of their respective governments regarding other important issues, including the question of freedom of innocent shipping through the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Akaba.
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.
