Jordanian Border Forces Suffering ‘severe Case of Nerves,’ Israelis Report

Jordanians opened fire four times this afternoon on Israeli positions in the northern Beisan Valley. The fire was returned and there was no casualties, a military spokesman reported tonight. Late last night an Israeli Army jeep was attacked on the Araba road south of the Dead Sea. The occupants returned the fire and there were no casualties.

Allegations in Amman that Israeli troops were trying daily to infiltrate across the cease-fire demarcation line into Jordan were ridiculed in official Israeli circles today. They called the charges a “fantasy” and attributed it to a severe case of nerves on the part of the Jordanians. Jordanian spokesmen have claimed for several consecutive days that Israelis were trying to infiltrate their territory. They also claimed that the alleged invaders were met by Jordanian troops who inflicted severe casualties.

The Israeli circles noted that Jordanians manning border positions have become extremely nervous and trigger-happy in recent weeks. They fire their weapons blindly in all directions at no particular target. At night, they light up the border region by continuously shooting flares. Obviously, the Israelis say, they are in constant fear of an attack and are trying to bolster their confidence. The blind shooting has been most frequent in the border area facing the Israeli-Jordan Valley settlement of Gesher. That settlement has also come under frequent Jordanian mortar and artillery fire.

(The Baltimore Sun reported today from Tel Aviv that an electronic fence erected on the Jordan-Israel cease-fire line as a protection against infiltrators may be extended the entire distance between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, about 45 miles, to protect the settlements in the Beisan Valley.)