Officials declined today to confirm a press report’ that Israeli antiaircraft artillery opened warning-fire when Soviet-made Egyptian Sukhoi 7 planes overflew Israeli positions in the northern sector of the Suez Canal on Monday. But officials said the report was “not to be ruled out.” The incident would mark the third such overflight in a period of 24 hours and the first time Israelis have fired in the Canal area since the cease-fire began. They are under strict orders to wait for firing permission before shooting, even if under attack. There must be confirmation that there is actual enemy action, and not just stray bullets.
The newspaper Maariv reported today that Premier Golda Meir is consulting with cabinet ministers and senior officials on the possibility that the Egyptian overflights were a deliberate provocation instigated by the Soviets, designed to get Israel to fire first. The paper said that was one of the subjects discussed yesterday by Foreign Minister Abba Eban and United States Ambassador Walworth J. Barbour. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency could not obtain confirmation of this front official sources. On a related matter, officials are saving that while the Suez Canal could be made navigable within two or three months after its reopening, the value of its current capacity is doubtful because since the canal was closed in June, 1967, supertankers have become the prime carriers of oil. Before the Six-Day War, oil carriers represented about 80 percent of the canal’s shipping tonnage, but the waterway is not deep enough for supertankers.
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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.
