A Foreign Ministry spokesman told a press conference this weekend that Israel’s position on observance of the Suez Canal cease-fire was based on full compliance by both sides with the cease-fire in its entirety and added that the deterioration along that sector was the result of Egypt’s policy of rejecting the cease-fire–both de jure and de facto.
He added that there was still a possibility of avoiding further aggravation of the situation if Egypt would adhere unconditionally to the agreement in line with its commitments of June, 1967, when the Security Council ordered the cease-fire. Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser said in a speech in Cairo last week that Egypt considered the cease-fire invalid on grounds that Israel had refused to withdraw from the occupied territories.
Premier Golda Meir said in a speech that President Nasser was afraid to tell his people the truth and instead of reporting Egypt’s drawbacks, he was “feeding them lies” and inciting them to war.
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