Jordanians were jolted by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s remarks Monday implying that Soviet Jewish immigrants pouring into Israel would be settled in the administered territories.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Jordanian Parliament discussed the issue Wednesday, and the newspaper Ad-Dastour warned against a “new nucleus for another Israel in the region.”
Shamir’s remarks were widely interpreted as a justification for Israel’s retention of the territories it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.
The prime minister said later that he meant only that large-scale immigration would require a “strong, united Israel.”
The Jordanian newspaper nevertheless called on the Soviet Union to consider the possible negative ramifications of large-scale Soviet immigration to Israel, at a time when Moscow is striving for a settlement in the Middle East.
Israel Radio reported Thursday that King Hussein has urged all Arab states to assist the Palestine Liberation Organization’s peace efforts.
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