There will be no war with the Arab states, nor a peace, within the next few years, Premier David Ben Gurion predicted last night in an address to a 47-member Israel bond delegation from Chicago.
Mr. Ben Gurion presented a detailed report of the last week’s border clashes at a meeting today of the Israel Cabinet. The Ministers also heard reports from Foreign Minister Golda Meir on her conferences in Paris with French Government leaders and in Vienna with Israeli diplomats accredited to East European capitals.
In his review of the general situation for the American delegates, Mr. Ben Gurion said that peace with the Arab states will remain a remote possibility as long as the Arab governments are not democratic and are not concerned with the needs of their people. People in the Arab countries need bread and housing, not Russian arms, he declared. The Premier added that once the Arab leaders are convinced that Israel is here to stay, the possibilities of peace will be nearer.
ISRAEL CHIEF OF STAFF SEES ARAB WAR AGAINST ISRAEL “DELAYED”
Gen. Moshe Dayan, Israel’s Army Chief of Staff, addressing a public meeting in Haifa, said that the apparent dissolution of the joint Syrian-Jordanian-Egyptian command is a “most positive development” and a “significant achievement” for Israel’s security. This development, he stated, means a delay in any Arab war against Israel for a “longer time.”
At the same time, Gen. Dayan emphasized that the continuation of arms shipments to the Arabs, coupled with incitement against Israel, might lead to new outbreaks against the Jewish State. He said Israel possessed enough arms to ensure national security at the present time.
Meanwhile, the death of three Arab infiltrators and the capture of a pack train of camels loaded with general merchandise and arms this week-end was reported here today. In the first of two incidents in which no Israelis were injured, two Arabs were killed and a larger number escaped over the border when an Israeli patrol intercepted a party of infiltrators crossing the northern Negev from Egyptian territory to Jordan. The third Arab was killed near the Gaza Strip border.
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