The holding up by Egypt yesterday of a third ship carrying cargo from Israel is now forcing the Israel Government to take further steps to protect her rights to pass the Suez Canal, it was indicated here today. Until yesterday, the Government hoped for some moderation on the part of Col. Nasser’s policy to renew the blockade of the Suez Canal against Israeli shipping.
The third ship from which the Egyptian authorities took off Israel cargo at the Suez Canal was the Greek freighter Nicolas Karis. The seizure consisted of 9,600 tons of cement and scrap iron consigned to Hong Kong and Japan, after being sold at Haifa. Cairo announced the seizure last night after the latest instance of cargo confiscation had already been printed in the Israeli press. Earlier, Egypt had seized cargoes aboard a West German vessel and a Costa Rican ship flying the Liberian flag.
The Israel Cabinet will discuss the holding up of the third ship at its regular meeting on Sunday. It is generally predicted that Israel’s next step will be to demand a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, to deal with its complaint on this subject submitted last week.
It is foreseen here that the Soviet Union might veto any anti-Nasser resolution, if the Western Powers should agree to present such a resolution to the Security Council. Consequently a Security Council discussion is likely to be just a deferment–possibly an inevitable one–of a decision on more practical action that may be needed to prevent Nasser from further interference with the shipping of Israeli cargo on non-Israeli ships through the Suez Canal
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.
