A spokesman for the Israeli Government today denied a report which appeared in the afternoon papers here stating that King Abdullah of Transjordan recently made an offer to confer with President Chaim Weizmann on initiating peace talks, and that this offer was allegedly transmitted through U.N. acting mediator Ralph J. Bunche.
The spokesman emphasized that there has been no further contact between Israel and Transjordan since last Sunday when Col. Moshe Dayan, Israeli commander of the Jerusalem. area, met with Lt. Col. Abdullah el Tel, commander of the Arab Legion units in Jerusalem. However, he revealed that technical contact–such as a direct telephone line–does exist, while no such contact exists with other Arab states.
The Israeli official said that the government of the Jewish state is impatient with the present “no peace, no war situation.” He then added: “I do not know how long we can tolerate the continued presence of the invading Arab armies within Israel and on Palestine. soil. Brig. Gen. William Riley, chief of staff of the U.N. mediator, did not bring any strong evidence upon his return from Gaza that the Egyptian Government has peaceful intentions. We have therefore drawn the logical conclusion that Egypt’s intentions are still as hostile as those of the other Arab armies.”
Questioned about a report that a stand-by order has been issued to the Israeli Army, the spokesman replied: “The state of preparedness in the army has not changed since the middle of May. Having no peace we must assume that the Arab intentions are hostile. We prefer direct peace talks with the Arab states.”
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