Prime Minister Nehru of India has not informed Israel if he is attempting a new mediation effort between Israel and the Arabs, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said today. However, the spokesman continued, Israel welcomes any effort with the Arabs because it means an attempt at “softening up where it is most needed.”
Answering questions by newsmen, the spokesman said Israel had “no information” on reports that Saudi Arabia was setting up gun positions on Sanafir and Tiran islands, in the Strait of Tiran, at the entrance to the Gulf of Akaba. “But if they would (set up gun positions),” he said, “it would be considered by the Israel Government as a most serious development.”
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.
