No diplomatic activity was visible today in the wake of Israel’s Monday night commando attack on terrorist head-quarters in Beirut but El Fatah radio in Beirut has issued urgent orders to terrorist units to lay low for the time being. The orders, broadcast in Arabic and in code, were issued presumably because of Israel’s capture of vital terrorist documents during the raids in which three top El Fatah leaders were slain.
The absence of reaction to the raids on the diplomatic front so far led one source to note that “the world has grown used to the way we handle the terrorist problem.” He said it was now up to Lebanon whether or not to call for a Security Council meeting. (There was no indication at the United Nations today when Lebanon would call for a meeting.)
Despite the diplomatic silence, Israeli envoys abroad have been instructed by the Foreign Ministry to carry out information campaigns in their respective countries explaining the background of the latest commando action. Biographical notes on the three terrorist leaders killed–Kamal Nasser, Mohammed Yssef Najjar and Kamal Adwan–have been circulated to all Israeli embassies.
Foreign Minister Abba Eban met yesterday with the U.S. Charge d’Affaires, Owen Zurhellen. Officials said the meeting had been arranged before this week’s events and that the American diplomat did not formally raise the matter of the Beirut raids or the earlier abortive Arab terrorist assaults on the Israeli Embassy residence and an Israeli airliner in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Israeli security services meanwhile were reported to be studying the captured terrorist documents, and wide scale arrests of suspected El Fatah members are expected shortly, official sources indicated. At the same time, Israeli authorities were reportedly-taking special precautionary measures at all installations in Israel and abroad against possible terrorist attempts at retaliation for the Beirut raids.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. David Elazar described the raids as “most successful.” He said all of the targets were pin-pointed and hit. He ridiculed as “nonsense” allegations by Lebanon that innocent civilians were killed or wounded. Addressing a fourth annual convention of the Israeli Journalists Guild in Haifa today, Elazar said Israel’s policy of defensive-offensive action against the terrorists instituted last Dec. has had a cumulative effect. He said there has been a significant decline in terrorist acts since then and a noticeable drop in terrorist organization membership, from 20,000 to 10-11,000 men.
Referring to the Middle East situation in general, Elazar warned the Arabs that Israel will not accept any dictate as to the place, scope or timing of any hostile action. Should the Arab states make the mistake of opening hostilities along the borders Israel will counter will full force.
W. BANKERS SEE NEW TERRORIST LEADERSHIP EMERGING
Spokesmen for West Bank Arabs told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that the consensus there was that yesterday’s Israeli commando raids on terrorist headquarters in Beirut will not eliminate the terrorists from Lebanon. The spokesmen said the general belief among West Bank leaders was that a new and more radical generation of terrorist leaders will come to the fore.
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.
