the Israeli Government would face a revolution if it agreed to the cession of the Negev to the Arabs as recommend in Bernadotte’s report, it is generally believed here among foreign correspondents.
The Negev has become something of a legend with the Jews. The most popular Israeli song of the moment is a sentimental ballad composed around the desert. The famous units of the Palmach, the commando force of the Israeli Army, won their greatest laurels there. There might be reluctant agreement to cede part of the Negev in exchange for al of the Galilee but there is unmistakably unanimous sentiment against ceding all of it to the Arabs. Were the government to weaken in this respect, that doubtless would be followed by a revival of the terrorist activities of the Sternists.
As to Jerusalem, which the Bernadotte proposals would assign to a United Nation trusteeship, nothing for the moment is said here. On that complicated issue, the Israeli Government may have some counter proposal to make in a few days.
The firm belief in Israeli Government and military circles the immediate hostilities are inevitable began to subside today. The government as well as the public generally had believed that the Arabs would strike directly after the assassination Friday of Bernadotte. It is significant, however, that the Israeli Army command talks only of delay in an Arab offensive, not of abandonment of it, and that Israel remains fully mobilized and ready for instant action.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
