The British Government is “increasingly concerned” over Nasser’s four-pronged campaign for the destruction of Israel, Terrence Prithee, diplomatic correspondent for “The Guardian,” a British newspaper, reports in the August issue of “The Atlantic Monthly.”
In the article entitled, “Bookshop in the Nile: Target Israel,” Mr. Prithee says the four main features of Nasser’s campaign are the removal of the British from military bases in Aden, Cyprus and Libya; the building of his conventional arms strength; a crash program to produce ground-to-ground rockets; and production of weapons of genocide of both nuclear and subnuclear types.
The correspondent says that in conventional arms today Egypt has superiority over Israel, but he points out that “two wars against Israel have convinced Nasser that the Egyptians man for man are no match for the Israelis, Therefore even an immense superiority in conventional weapons and in manpower (the population of Egypt is ten times that of Israel) would not guarantee victory in a third war.”
“This is why the Egyptians with the vital help of West German and other foreign scientists and technicians have been working on a crash program for the production of long and medium range rockets at their factory 333 at Heliopolis, a few miles east of Cairo,” Mr. Prithee stresses.
Three main types of rockets are being developed in Egypt, the article says: The Egyptians are also building light naval craft somewhat smaller than frigates to be equipped with launching pads for rockets. These vessels, Prithee reports, could play an important part in a saturation attack on Israeli cities.
GERMANS HELP NASSER TO BUILD 800 ROCKETS FOR ASSAULT ON ISRAEL
“It is believed that Nasser intends to build between 800 and 1,000 rockets for an assault on Israel,” the report continues. “This will take him roughly two years at the present estimated rate of progress. The key to his success is the continued presence in Egypt, in his employ, of the two dozen West German scientists and five to six hundred West German and other foreign technicians who have been there for the past three years.”
Mr. Prithee maintains that the senior scientists are paid from $3,000 to $5,000 a month and are generally given free housing and a domestic staff; “Few of them show the slightest desire to return home,” he says. The pay and living conditions of all the technicians are far better than they would expect at home, he states.
Referring to Israeli representations in Bonn for the recall of the German scientists and technicians, Mr. Prithee says: “There is a powerful pro-Arab lobby in Bonn where a section of the Christian Democratic Party and virtually the whole Free Democratic Party are opposed to any action which could harm West German trade interests in the Middle East. West German heavy industry provides the most powerful single pro-Arab pressure group and a small group of firms has considerable influence with the federal government. This group includes steel and heavy engineering firms of Krupp, Thomsen Kronecker and Drag which have major industrial interests in Egypt.”
COMPLETE ANNIHILATION OF ALL JEWS IN ISRAEL PLANNED BY NASSER
According to the correspondent, Nasser’s rocket program and conventional weapons would be sufficient to secure the total military defeat of Israel, but this is not Nasser’s only objective, since he has “sworn to blot out Israel completely.” “To leave any Jewish ghetto in Palestine would be to keep alive the claim and hope for a Jewish National State,” Mr. Prithee writes, “This is why Nasser is contemplating using weapons of genocide against Israel.”
Nasser’s inner circle of assistants, the correspondent reports, have been considering the possibility of a nuclear bomb of the Hiroshima type, the possibility of bribing officers of the British Air Force to fly British-based planes to Cairo with nuclear bombs, the possibility of using “radioactive rubbish bombs,” and the possibility of exploding small packages of strontium 90.
Nasser’s plans include the removal of the British from their Middle East bases so that they cannot come to the aid of Israel, “if Nasser were to launch an unprovoked and genocidal attack.” Nasser’s intention, Prithee states, is “to close the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea to the West.” He intends also to build a firm alliance with the Soviet Union.
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.
