Foreign Minister Abba Eban confirmed last night in a broadcast interview here that Israel would not remain passive if non-Jordanian armed forces were stationed in Jordan.
The issues arose after the Arab Defense Council decided at a meeting in Cairo earlier this month that Iraqi and Saudi Arabian troops should be stationed in Jordan as part of a combined Arab deployment of forces against Israel. Observers here tended to dismiss the possibility as one likely to remain a paper decision because of concern by King Hussein that foreign troops might join with Jordanian elements opposing him, to overthrow his government.
Mr. Eban’s statement agreed to the essence of a speech on this issue by Labor Minister Yigal Allon last weekend. Mr. Eban said that Israel’s position, as announced in 1958, remained one of opposition to any change in the status quo in Jordan. He noted that Jordan had undertaken, under the Jordanian-Israeli armistice agreement, to evacuate Iraqi troops from its territory.
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