Israel Denies Syrian Charges of Massing Troops Opposite Border

The Israel Government today denied Syrian charges that Israel was massing troops opposite the Syrian border and was preparing to divert the Jordan River in line with its long-postponed development project.

An Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Syria was spreading false reports with the deliberate intention of building up tension and creating a war atmosphere. He coupled the new stream of hostile declarations from Damascus with a mounting anti-Israel propaganda offensive and military preparations by the Syrians.

The Israeli spokesman noted that a similar propaganda drive was launched last month to cover the movement of troops by Syria and Iraq. Those Arab charges, he recalled, had quickly been dispelled as completely spurious.

(In a letter presented to the United Nations Security Council last night, Syria accused Israel of allegedly encircling a number of Syrian villages with mines and ditches and declared that regular Israeli Army troops, clothed in police uniforms, have taken up positions along the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria. The letter implied a threat of retaliation by declaring that Damascus “cannot consider itself the responsible factor in any consequences that may inevitably result from such activities.”)

Meanwhile, Jordanian sources have added new charges to the Arab campaign against Israel. This one had it that Israeli troops were being massed close to the Jordan border along a line just outside Jerusalem northward to Tulkarm, 36 miles away.

The Israel-Lebanese Armistice Commission, however, met today in an amicable atmosphere. There were no complaints filed by either side, but the commission met to discuss several questions concerning regulation of observance of the armistice pact.