Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel Chief of Staff, said today that, as a result of Israel’s occupation of Arab territories in the June war, no Israeli city or settlement was now within range of Syrian, Egyptian or Jordanian guns.
Before the war, he told the 70th jubilee convention of the Zionist Organization of America, Tel Aviv was 80 kilometers (40 miles) from the Egyptian border while Cairo was 280 kilometers (140 miles) from the Israeli border, but today “the situation is reversed.” Israel’s borders, he told the 2,000 delegates and guests, “are now much easier to defend.”
He reiterated earlier Israeli denial of reports that Israel had turned over captured Soviet made MIG-21s to the United States or any other nation. He said “we have one intact MIG-21 and we need it ourselves.” He also denied that Israeli units had captured Soviet technicians or instructors.
Gen. Rabin told the delegates that “though the six-day war is over, the seventh day of rest has not yet been gained.” He expressed the view that the struggle for peace “in our days” was still a long one, but added that the existing military situation made “better than ever” the chances for cessation of 19 years of Arab belligerency.
Joseph Sapir, Minister Without Portfolio told the convention that Israel’s June victory had saved not only Israel but the whole Jewish people from annihilation and disintegration. He said it saved the Jewish honor. He also told the delegates that the first days of postwar victory in the reunited Jerusalem and other phases of life proved the falsity of Arab claims that Arab-Jewish co-existence was impossible.
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.
