The Israel representative on the Israel-Lebanon mixed armistice commission has entered a formal complaint over the recent airplane incident on that border, and has informed United Nations headquarters here that the commission is dealing with the incident.
The communication, transmitted to the U.N. by Arthur Lourie, Israel Consul in New York, pointed out that there had been a number of such aerial violations of Israel borders in recent months. Mentioned were the sighting of two unidentified aircraft over the southern Negev on July 11, the appearance of Syrian planes over Lake Huleh on July 15, and recent forcing down of R.A.F. and Jordan planes.
Recalling that the Israel Government issued a series of warnings about these violations, the Israel representative said: “The latest incident shows the irresponsible attitude of the Arab states toward these repeated warnings.” The communication added: “It would be advisable for appropriate U.N. authorities to call the attention of the Arab states to these repeated flights of Arab aircraft over Israel’s borders, which constitute grave and unprovoked violations of the general armistice agreements.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations received communications from Syria and Jordan supporting the Lebanese protest over the incident. Jordan complained that the “attack” on a Lebanese transport had adversely affected Holy Year pilgrim traffic, resulting in pecuniary losses to Jordan and its citizens.
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.
