An Israeli Air Force jet went into action today to strike at saboteurs attacking Israeli settlements and military positions from inside Jordan in a continuation of a new technique aimed at silencing such guerrilla bases with swift air strikes. On another front. Egyptian forces opened fire today on an Israeli patrol moving along the east bank of the Suez Canal. A military spokesman said the patrol returned the fire and that there were no casualties.
The new fighting was the background for a special session of the Cabinet which met to hear a report on United States-Israel relations from Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, who reportedly said that the United States strategy in the Middle East was based on the premise that a strong Israel was in the best interests of the United States. He also was understood to have added the warning that genuine concern existed in Washington over the possibility of a new Middle East war that might lead to a Soviet-American confrontation. Foreign Minister Abba Eban reported on the international situation, in the wake of the Israeli raid last Saturday night on the Beirut Airport and the Security Council’s unanimous condemnation of that raid. Maj. Gen. Chaim Bar Lev, Chief of Staff, reported on the most recent border incidents, including the shelling from Lebanese territory of Kiryat Shemona in the upper Galilee.
Mr. Eban disclosed later that Israel was preparing a letter of protest to the Security Council over the bombardment of Kiryat Shemona which cost the lives of three civilians. Mr. Eban added that he did not expect “much response” from the Council, noting that seven of the 15 member nations did not have diplomatic relations with Israel and that several had refused to recognize Israel. Denouncing the Council’s resolution on the Beirut raid, he said it was “morally outrageous” that the resolution “contained not a single word” about the slaying of an Israeli citizen in the Arab terrorist attack on an El Al airliner in the Athens Airport on Dec. 28.
He said that Israel had framed its requests to the new Nixon Administration on the assumption that it would continue the Mideast policies of prior administrations. He said Israel wanted to get enough weapons to maintain the Mideast arms balance, that Israel wanted the United States to prevent intimidation of Israel by any other Big Power and to continue to back Israel’s stand against withdrawal from Arab-held areas in the absence of a peace treaty.
The policy of using aircraft to hit saboteurs was disclosed in a New Year’s Day television interview by Gen. Bar Lev. The Jet in action today fired at Arab marauders who shot bazooka shells at an Israel patrol in the Beisan Valley. Later another plane silenced an artillery post in Jordan which had been dueling with Israeli artillery across the Jordan River.
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.
