The Israel Government denied formally today Saudi Arabian charges to the Security Council yesterday that Israeli naval units had attacked Saudi Arabian coastal positions on the Gulf of Akaba last month. The Foreign Ministry said it had no knowledge of such incidents.
The Foreign Ministry reported that the “Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Akaba are very quiet. Shipping in the gulf is proceeding very normally.” Observers here noted that the Saudi Arabian complaint referred to three Israeli frigates participating in the alleged actions. It is general knowledge that Israel has but two frigates in the gulf and at almost any time one or both can be seen lying in Elath harbor.
It is the belief here that the Saudi Arabian complaint is part of a propaganda scheme aimed at eventually forbidding Moslem pilgrimages to Mecca, via the gulf, on the grounds of “danger” from Israel. This belief was buttressed by the fact that the latest complaint said that the Israel navy had shelled the “pilgrimage route to Mecca.”
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.
