Egypt’s firing of rockets must remind Israel that “we must take our security problems seriously,” Maj. Gen. Zvi Tsur, chief of staff of Israel’s defense forces, declared last night. At the same time, both Gen. Tsur, and Shimon Peres, Deputy Minister of Defense, stated that, thus far, Egypt’s rocketry program has greater importance as propaganda than as an immediate military threat. Both spoke as Israel artillery started a series of exercises that will last four days.
Gen. Tsur warned that President Nasser, of Egypt, “must be judged by his actions, and not by his words.” He pointed out that Nasser’s recent speeches, deemed “moderate” in some quarters, were delivered while Egypt was developing the rockets with the help of West German, Swiss and Italian experts. He warned that, with the help of the foreign experts, Egypt could make its rockets operational within a few years.
The Israeli press today requested that the Israel Government approach the Western powers again for defensive weapons made more necessary than ever in the light of Egypt’s heavy armament. Israel applied to the United States a number of years ago for permission to buy defensive arms in the U.S., but no action on this application has as yet been taken by the State Department in Washington.
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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.
