Diplomatic quarters here expressed satisfaction today with King Hussein’s speech to the Parliament of Jordan last night in which he said his Government would act to prevent El Fatah raiders from crossing the border into Israel to commit acts of sabotage. Some half dozen such raids took place last week on an almost nightly basis.
However, it was pointed out here that the King’s statement will have to be tested by results and that if the raids did not end, Israel would continue to reserve its right to action.
Israel will be compelled to “hit” bases in neighboring Arab lands from which the terrorist gangs of El Fatah operate, and also to counter-attack Arab civilians who cooperate with the El Fatah sabotage gangs, Haaretz, Israel’s leading morning newspaper, warned today in a front-page article attributed to “political observers in Jerusalem.”
The implication was that while, in the past, Israeli reprisals took the form of “pure warning” like the blasting of farm irrigation pumps on the Arab side, Israel will have to aim at more sensitive targets next time it carries out a counter-attack.
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.
