Defense Minister Moshe Dayan put Israelis on notice that required Army service may be extended from the present two-and-a-half to three years. Speaking before 3,000 students in Convention Hall here, Gen. Dayan declared that it was not Israel’s aim to intensify and escalate hostilities but to cool them down. Arab hostility, however, he said, was growing, rather than abating, and this, he warned, may make it necessary for Israel to remain on the cease-fire lines for a long time.
The Defense Minister reported that the Egyptians had made five attempts during the month of April to cross the Suez Canal but had made no further tries since then. He warned that they would not again find it as easy. Following Israel’s strong response to Egyptian aggression in April, he said, the number of incidents had been reduced. Whereas in April, he reported, there had been 568 incidents in the canal area, in May, the number dropped to 370.
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