Israel should cancel its scheduled April 20 Independence Day parade in Jerusalem, in the interest of regional peace and harmony. State Department sources said today.
These sources expressed a view that Israel could hold an appropriately festive celebration by parades of military forces in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and any Israeli city other than Jerusalem, According to Department sources, relative peace has existed for some time on the Israel frontier and in the Jerusalem area, and should not be endangered by “dogmatic insistence” on staging the controversial military parade.
The Israeli position is that the parade is no threat to peace but that Jordan’s deliberate generation of new tensions through its complaints to the UN on this issue is such a threat. Israel has announced that the parade will follow an announced route as far as possible from the armistice line in Jerusalem. Ammunition will not be carried for weapons displayed, and no aircraft will be used. The State Department has been informed that the parade is merely of a peaceful ceremonial nature.
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