Israel, Egypt, Syria Reported Moving Troops on Jordan’s Borders

Both Israel and the United Arab Republic were reported here today to be moving troops into position along the borders of Jordan as an aftermath of the bomb assassination of Jordanian Premier Majali.

The new tension in Jordan arising from the bomb assassination of Premier Majali was discussed here today at a special meeting between Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Foreign Secretary Lord Home. The British Ambassador in Jordan mean while reported that the situation in Jordan was “calm” and that the Jordan Government “had the situation under control.”

A report from Beirut cited a United Nations official as regarding the Israel troop movements as a precautionary action but one, the implications of which should not be minimized.

The Times of London said King Hussein of Jordan was now faced with a double threat to his kingdom, the threat of subversion from President Nasser of the United Arab Republic and the threat that “Israel will move first to forestall any junction of Egypt and Syria.”

The Times emphasized that Israeli leaders “have made no secret of their determination not to let any other country occupy the area of Palestine incorporated by Jordan in 1949 in the war against Israel.” It added that the fact that Iraq and the UAR had found a “common ground” on the idea of reviving a “Palestine entity,” must make Israel “more anxious than ever.”

London newspapers generally indicated belief that the assassination stemmed from the sharp differences within the Arab League over the future of Palestine. To solve this dispute, Nasser has been pressing for the creation of a Palestinian enclave in Jordan which houses more than 500,000 refugees, a project supported by Premier Kassem of Iraq, but rejected by Jordan.