Premier David Ben Gurion today participated In a top level meeting at the home of Foreign Minister Golda Meir held to appraise the Iraqi revolt developments and their effects on Israel.
Reportedly, a chief question was Israel’s policy In the event that pro-Nasser Iraqi troops overrun and occupy the Kingdom of Jordan and take up positions in the Western areas bordering Israel.
An afternoon newspaper quoted Mr. Ben Gurion as having said in a brief interview that the Iraqi developments would be decisive for Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. Brigadier Chaim. Laskov, chief of staff of the Israel Army, declined any comment on the situation, saying it was “too early.”
Feverish consultations proceeded from early morning today at the Foreign Ministry as reports on the still confused picture of the Egyptian-directed, pro-Communist revolt in Iraq came trickling In. Foreign Minister Meir, recently discharged from a hospital after a serious operation and still confined to her home, was unable to participate in these meetings but was being kept fully Informed and was to attend the deliberations in her home.
While no official comment was immediately forthcoming on the dangerous new situation created in the Middle East by Col. Nasser’s successful attack on the pro-Western government of Iraq, political observers here noted that although the coup came as a bombshell, it could have been anticipated in view of the fact that Western hesitation to take action in the Lebanese crisis gave encouragement, if not the green-light, to the Nasser forces to increase their penetration.
There were grave fears here, openly expressed by the man in the street, who is acutely conscious of the political situation, that the Kingdom of Jordan, bound to Iraq in the United Arab Federation, would fall within a week, as would Lebanon. This would leave Israel surrounded on every foot of its land frontiers by pro-Nasser, pro-Soviet elements. Only Western intervention, it was felt, could save Jordan.
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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.
