Israel has halted work on the afforestation project in no man’s land outside this city, a Foreign Ministry spokesman announced last night. He noted that work in preparation for tree planting has been completed, but it is not certain when the actual planting of seedlings will begin.
The spokesman admitted that the plantings were a subject of an exchange between the United States and Israel, but declined to reveal the nature of the communication. Press reports last week said that Secretary Dulles had written Premier Ben Gurion urging Israel to halt the afforestation project. The Dulles note also mentioned other matters, including a rebuke to Israel because its fighters attempted to force a Jordan passenger plane to land on Israel territory.
The spokesman noted that Israel was ready to discuss the afforestation project with Jordanian authorities at any time, but that there is no need to suspend tree planting as a prior condition of such talks.
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