Eban Likens Increasing Middle East Tension to Situation Before Six-day War

Foreign Minister Abba Eban of Israel yesterday likened the increasingly tense situation in the Middle East to that which prevailed prior to the outbreak of the June, 1967 Six-Day War and appealed to Egypt not to be dragged into “war hysteria” by erroneous rumors that Israel is preparing for a new offensive. He said that Israel will bend every effort to maintain the cease-fire agreements as a basis for ultimate peace talks and will continue to support the peace-seeking mission of United Nations envoy Gunnar V. Jarring.

Mr. Eban said that the Jarring mission cannot claim any success so far and is deadlocked at the present time. (United Nations headquarters in New York reported that Dr. Jarring completed his current round of discussions in the Middle East and was scheduled to leave his Cyprus headquarters yesterday. After brief stopovers in Paris and Sweden, he was to proceed to New York to continue discussions with representatives of both sides during the coming General Assembly session, the announcement said.)

Mr. Eban spoke at the Foreign Press Association dinner here against a background of rising fears in Middle East capitals and abroad that a new Arab-Israel war is imminent. The fears stemmed from increasingly bellicose statements by official spokesmen in Cairo at the opening of the congress of the Arab Socialist Union. Egypt’s only legal political party. These statements, following the Egyptian-Israeli artillery duel along the full length of the Suez Canal Sept. 8, indicated to some observers that Egypt has regained confidence in its military forces, re-equipped by Russia, and may be preparing a strike to recapture the east bank of the canal from Israeli occupying forces. While some observers said the new bellicosity was primarily for morale building purposes at home, they noted a similarity with the situation before the June, 1967 war when Egyptian propaganda reached a point that made a military confrontation with Israel inevitable. These circles noted further that, as at present, rumors of an impending Israeli offensive, reportedly started by the Soviets, heightened tensions before June, 1967. Mr. Eban apparently had this in mind when he warned that “such false counsel has had grave results in the past.” He added, however, that while the situation is “grave enough for us to be vigilant, we have not reached the conclusion that the collapse of the cease-fire is inevitable.” This view was not shared by Mohamed Hassanein Heykal, editor of the semi-official Cairo newspaper, Al Ahram, who wrote yesterday that a political settlement of the Middle East crisis was remote and another round of fighting is in the offing. Mr. Heykal said that the battlefield offered almost the only possible solution.

(In Cairo yesterday, President Nasser made his first public address since returning from medical treatment in Moscow, at the Arab Socialist Union congress. Some observers called it “relatively mild, less a call for action than many had expected,” though he did not mention a political solution and stressed the increased strength of Egypt’s armed forces. Mr. Nasser said that the first stage of rebuilding Egypt’s military strength has ended. The next two stages, he said, will be to “stand firm” and then “to liberate our occupied land.”

(In London today, the London Times said that Mr. Nasser appears to have decided that Egypt was now strong enough for a new war with Israel but was trying to decide whether to attack first. His military commanders were pressing for a first strike to build their troops’ morale and give the best chance for victory, the Times said. But Mr. Nasser was keenly aware of the political repercussions of such action and was thought to be more inclined to wait for an Israeli provocation and the launch a retaliatory attack across the Suez Canal. An Israeli attack on Jordan could be the “detonator,” the Times said.

(The Sunday Observer said it did not believe Nasser was ready for or wants to start a full scale war now “but cannot afford politically or psychologically not to hit back at Israeli actions.” The paper said that Egypt’s defenses are now claimed to be excellent and the country’s military leaders appear to be confident that they can begin to exert military pressure on Israel, not by direct attack but by harassment, in the occupied territories.”)