Israel’s Minister of Information, Israel Galilee, replied last night to criticism of the way last Thursday’s military operation against terrorist bases in Jordan was handled. Newsmen wanted to know why Israel announced in the early hours of the attack that its troops would return to their bases, thus enabling Jordanian forces to attack without fear of an Israeli push to Amman. They also noted that such Israeli operations can easily be trumpeted as a “victory” by Arab propagandists.
Mr. Galilee said that the Jordanian Army had expected an Israeli attack but there were no special re-enforcements around Karameh, the El Fatah base that was the principal target. He said that the operation had not harmed chances for peace because as long as the El Fatah was permitted to continue its incursions and as long as the cease fire with Jordan was violated there is little chance for United Nations Ambassador Jarring’s peace mission to succeed.
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