Simcha Blass, Israel’s chief water planning engineer, left last night for New York to confer with Israel Ambassador Abba Eban on the Bnot Yaakov canal project along the Israel-Syrian border about which Syria has complained to the United Nations Security Council, it was announced last night by an official spokesman.
The spokesman added that Israel was dispatching a note to the Security Council, outlining its position in the matter. He revealed that work had not been halted on the canal project, despite the demand of Maj. Gen. Vagn Bennike, head of the truce supervision machinery in Palestine, that the Israelis halt the project until they could come to agreement on it with Syria. The decision to continue work on the project was taken at a meeting yesterday of the Israel Cabinet.
The spokesman said that Israel would be happy to participate in a Security Council discussion of the matter. It is expected that the Security Council discussion of the Syrian complaint will take place Thursday. The formal demand for the meeting was made late last week.
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