The Israeli delegation to the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission today walked out of an emergency meeting of the commission when the United Nations chairman, American Naval Commander E. R. Hutchinson abstained on a resolution condemning the Jordan Government as responsible for the ambush in the Negev last week which cost 11 Israeli men, women and children their lives.
There were indications that the Israeli walk-out meant that Israel would quit the commission, rather than merely walk out of one session in protest. The resolution, proposed by the Israeli delegation read:
“The Mixed Armistice Commission deeply deplore the loss of innocent lives incurred as a result of the attack on the Israeli bus carried out by a Jordanian organized gang with rifles and automatic weapons near Scorpion Pass March 17.
“The Mixed Armistice Commission finds Jordan responsible for this unprovoked attack which resulted in the cold-blooded murder of 11 passengers and the wounding of two others, which constitutes a most flagrant violation of the armistice agreement.
“The Mixed Armistice Commission condemns in the strongest terms the latest Jordan aggression and calls on the Jordan authorities to: terminate all warlike acts against Israel; take the most effective measures to prevent the future violation of the armistice agreement, to apprehend the culprits and to mete out severe punishment to the perpetrators of this crime and those responsible for it.”
AMERICAN CHAIRMAN ABSTAINS ON RESOLUTION
In the voting on the resolution, which was held paragraph-by-paragraph, the Israelis voted for the first paragraph, the Jordanians voted against and the chairman abstained. After the same vote was registered on the second paragraph, the senior Israeli delegate, Lt. Col. Arieh Shalev declared: “The Israeli delegation is not in a position, under these circumstances, to continue its participation in the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission.” The Israelis then walked out.
When the MAC meeting opened, the chairman suggested that discussion be postponed until the completion of the investigation into the details of the ambush. The Israeli delegation asserted that the investigation of the massacre itself had nothing to do with the Jordanian responsibility for the incident, which had clearly been proved.
At yesterday’s meeting of the MAC, the Israelis gave Commander Hutchinson a list of the names of some of the participants in the Negev ambush, although they did not indicate how they obtained the information. (At the United Nations today, Israel chief delegate Abba Eban conferred with American delegate Henry Cabot Lodge on the Jordanian situation. Ambassador Eban was also scheduled to meet with UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold tonight on the same problem.)
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