Premier Golda Meir warned today that a new war with Egypt was a possibility and predicted that it would end the same was as the last one-with the enemy’s defeat. Similar predictions were made Friday by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff of Israel’s Armed Forces Gen. Haim Bar Lev. Mrs. Meir, addressing Labor Zionist delegates gathered here for the opening tomorrow of the Jewish Agency Assembly, chided Israeli peace activists. She said their slogan. “Peace For Territories,” was “superficial and simplistic,” adding “I only wish it were that simple.” Mrs. Meir asserted that “We do not want war, but the possibility exists that the Egyptians will launch one.” Dayan, in an interview in Maariv, warned that unless some progress was made toward an interim settlement, there was a danger hostilities would be resumed. He stated that a partial agreement to reopen the Suez Canal was still possible and observed that new Soviet shipments to Egypt were dangerous because they bolstered Egypt’s confidence in its military prowess. Dayan cautioned against confrontation with the Soviets noting that “it seems that they also are not jumping into a confrontation with us.” Bar Lev, speaking to Israeli troops on the Golan Heights, told them to be “well prepared” for a possible renewal of fighting.
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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.
