Israel raised with the United States the issue of the ever-increasing wave of Saudi Arabian threats against freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Akaba, and Washington has indicated it will take up the matter with Saudi Arabia, informed sources here reported today.
It is understood that Israel views with gravity Saudi Arabian threats, particularly in light of a reported agreement with Egypt for Saudi Arabia to fortify the islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the entrance to the gulf. Israeli legal experts are now studying the implications for Israel of the recent transfer to Saudi Arabia by Egypt of the two islands which in 1951 were "leased out" to Egypt by King Saud to establish a blockade against Israeli shipping.
Israeli informants said it was "significant" that the Saudi-Egyptian campaign against Israeli navigation in the gulf was accelerated after Israel adopted a policy of silence about sending a test ship through the Suez Canal, apparently creating an impression in the Arab world that Israel had abandoned the idea of such a test altogether.
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