Mrs. Meir Warns Israel Must Be Prepared for Renewed Hostilities

Premier Golda Meir warned yesterday that Israel must be prepared for a resumption of fighting along her borders even though the Arabs must know they will suffer heavily in a clash of arms. Mrs. Meir spoke to reporters from the Army radio station and the Army magazine, “Bamachaneh.”

She said Israel had to be on the alert because there was no way to predict what the Arabs might do or how illogically they might act. She observed that President Anwar Sadat of Egypt is in political trouble at home. “History can testify that Arab leaders have been in trouble on more than one occasion in the past. The simplest thing for him (Sadat) is to go to war,” she said, even though it entails the sacrifice of countless human lives. “Having made our evaluation, we must tell ourselves that it would be just as well for us to be prepared.”

Reports over the weekend indicated increasing Egyptian military activity along the West Bank of the Suez Canal. Israeli observers reported the construction of ramps between 12-18 meters high leading down to the edge of the canal and increased movements of soldiers and vehicles at some depth in the canal zone.

The reports said that Egyptian soldiers were manning their positions as usual but there seemed to be a tightening discipline and less leisure time for the soldiers on the Egyptian side. An Israeli patrol discovered several bazooka shells on improvised launchers primed for firing near the Lebanese border this morning. The shells and launchers were dismantled and a search was carried out in the district. A cache of bazooka shells was discovered near Nazareth this morning.