Gen. David Elazar, Israel’s Chief of Staff, warned yesterday that Israel will continue to strike at terrorists anywhere in the world, including preemptive strikes. “We do not have to restrict ourselves to retaliatory actions. As long as the terrorist organizations persist in their declarations of war against us and in their threats to strike at Jews all over the world, they should know that we too will strike at them all over the world,” he said in a radio broadcast.
Elazar spoke as Israel lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council charging Syria with full responsibility for Thursday’s air battle in which Israeli fighters shot down 13 Syrian MIG-21s to the loss of one Israeli Mirage.
The note, submitted yesterday by Yaacov Doron, Israel’s acting representative to the UN, claimed that Israeli planes were on a routine patrol over International waters when they were attacked by Syrian fighters. Israel did not request a meeting of the Security Council on the matter nor has Syria so far. But the Syrian delegation, on Friday, requested the President of the Security Council to circulate charges that Israeli planes had violated Syrian air space.
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