Soviet Arming of Syria is “disquieting” to Israel, Chief of Staff Says

Russia’s arming of Syria is “disquieting” to Israel, Brig. Gen, Moshe Dayan, Chief of Staff of Israel’s Army, declared at a press conference here today. He hesitated to answer political questions and pointed out that he was ‘a soldier, not a politician,” However, when asked about the recent developments in Syria, he stated:

“The press reports seen to sum up the situation very well. The Russians are there and we don’t like it. It is not only a question of Communism, but of Russian arms being supplied to Syria. The fact that an Arab state on our border gets all these arms from Russia is disquieting to us.”

“When you give an Arab state arms and more arms,” he continued, “while speeches hostile to Israel are being made in this same Arab state, the result is likely to be unfortunate. Instead of getting peace talks between Arab states and Israel, the trend is likely to go the other way.

Asked whether there was any truth to some press reports about supposed secret peace talks between some of the Arab states and Israel, “somewhere in Europe,” the Israeli army chief replied: “If there are such talks, they must be secret indeed. I know nothing about them. All I know is what is being done openly across our borders. There are concentrations of new arms in Arab countries on our borders, and new airfields are being built there. That I know.

Replying to further questions, Gen. Dayan stated that the situation on the Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese borders is “better.” Fedayeen raids have practically ceased, he said. Sabotage, however, is still being practiced inside Israel, chiefly by gangs coming across the Jordanian and Lebanese borders. “We believe that, today, these gangs are being directed mainly from Syria,” he stated.