The gravity which Israel attaches to the latest crisis forced upon it by Syria was illustrated by extraordinary activity on the part of Mr. Eban all day today.
Before the Council meeting he conferred privately and separately with Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold and the chairmen of the British, American, French, Swedish, Canadian and Panamanian delegations. Mr. Eban said that within the next 24 hours he expects to confer also with other delegations represented in the Security Council, including the USSR.
Just before the Council convened, the Israeli diplomat summoned a press conference here where he virtually gave a preview of his Council address. A dramatic part of the press conference occurred when Lt. Col. Arieh Shalev of the Israel Army passed to Mr. Eban fragments of artillery shells and mortar bombs which fell on Israeli soil during last week’s Syrian bombardment.
When Mr. Eban showed this “hardware” to the members of the press, he was asked whether the Syrian guns and shells were of Soviet make, as reported. He confirmed that fact, but added that Israel could not have condoned the shooting if the guns and shells were of Western origin.
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