Israel ordered a special alert along the Suez Canal today as security forces stood guard against possible terrorist acts on the eve of Independence Day. The Suez alert was nothing new, It was described in Army circles as a precautionary measure taken in response to recent warlike threats by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and the presence in Egypt of Libyan and Iraqi war planes.
The announcement stressed that no unusual activity was observed on the Egyptian side of the waterway. A military spokesman said that while the reopening of hostilities by Egypt would be illogical and even suicidal on Egypt’s part, Israel must take into consideration that Egypt is capable of illogical acts.
Security services, meanwhile, continued to investigate the possibility that Israeli Arabs may have provided information and otherwise aided three terrorist infiltrators caught Sunday on their way to Safad to attack civilians. The three, who were spotted crossing the Lebanese border, reportedly confessed that they were on a mission to massacre Israeli civilians at the Safad bus station, at a restaurant and at a gasoline station. One of the trio was a former Israeli Arab who had joined El Fatah. Security forces believe that the information the terrorists possessed about their targets may have been provided by Israeli Arabs in the vicinity.
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