Syrian Front Described As Tinder-box

The Syrian front was a tinder-box today in which a minor incident could spark full-scale hostilities, official sources said. They said the intelligence information on the massive Syrian concentration of arms and men was similar to the intelligence that reached Israel just prior to the Yom Kippur War–but this time Israel is taking it with the utmost seriousness and is fully prepared to deal with any attack, the sources said. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and Syria warned today that Israel’s failure to withdraw from all occupied Arab territory could lead to a “new explosion” in the Middle East, it was reported from Damascus today.

Agricultural settlers continued to work their fields, however, even in the most remote regions of the Golan Heights. But tourists and other visitors were advised to avoid the area. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, appearing on television last night, stressed that normal life must and would continue on the Golan Heights as long as there is no shooting. But he said the Syrians were deployed in full strength along the cease-fire line–just as they were on the eve of the Yom Kippur War. They need not perform any large scale troop movements because they are already deployed, Dayan said.

ISRAELI FORCES PREPARED FOR ANY CONTINGENCY

Israel forces were also apparently deployed in full strength and ready for any contingency. Air Force jets of both sides crisscrossed the forward positions throughout the day but were careful not to cross the demarcation line. Jet interceptors and helicopters were seen over the Syrian lines. Syrian ground forces were deployed mainly around the Israeli enclave on the Damascus road which was captured during the Yom Kippur War.

Sources here said today that the Syrian move was not wholly unexpected. They said that while renewed Syrian aggression is always possible, Damascus apparently wanted to enter the negotiating stage with Israel in a position of strength and therefore was heating up the border. A Syrian attempt to regain territory taken by Israel in the Yom Kippur War could not be excluded, the sources said.

While the Israeli public seemed more convinced today than yesterday that the situation on the Syrian front was indeed serious, there was. still considerable skepticism over the political maneuvering that resulted in Dayan and Transport Minister Shimon Peres reversing their decisions not to serve in the new government. A considerable segment of the public believes that the two Ministers seized on the Syrian scare as a means of reversing themselves without losing face.