Israel has started intensive diplomatic consultations with the Great Powers to present Israel’s position on subjects likely to be on the agenda of the forthcoming summit conference, it was reported here today. The possibility was not excluded that these top diplomatic contacts would include a meeting between the Israel Ambassador in Moscow and Soviet Foreign Ministry officials.
The bid for protection of Israel’s interests in the projected summit meeting came as Israel officials pondered the certainty of British and American evacuation of Jordan and Lebanon, a development which would again present Israel with the dilemma which the Western landings temporarily postponed.
The issue, as it was authoritatively projected here, was whether Israel could afford to remain passive while being totally encircled by the new empire of President Nasser of the United Arab Republic–an encirclement envisaged in the possible fall of Jordan and Lebanon into Nasser’s hands.
The problem was viewed as involving the peril for Israel of allowing the frontiers of such a Nasser empire to be within a few hundred yards of Israel’s capital and the stationing of Nasser troops in central Palestine where, with an advance of 10 miles, they could cut Israel in half.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
