Israeli observers said today that while Egypt has considerably increased air patrols along the Israeli border and over Sinai, President Nasser’s regime apparently did not intend to make an issue over the shooting down of two Soviet-made MIG-19 jets yesterday by an Israeli jet pilot.
The observers said that if Egypt wanted to build up tension, it would have played up the incident in a typical “victory” communique. So far, however, Cairo Radio has made no reference to the air clash in its broadcasts, reporting only that two of its planes had been accidentally downed. This treatment was considered evidence that Egypt wants to close the incident.
The key to the Middle East situation, according to the observers, remained in Jordan, where demonstrations were still continuing in Bethlehem and Jordan as a response to Israel’s November 13 raid against three Jordanian villages. Reports here said that the Jordanian army and police evacuated today several thousand Palestinian refugees from a camp near the Israeli border.
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