Defense Minister Moshe Dayan warned Israelis today to brace themselves for an intensification of Arab warfare on all fronts next summer. He cautioned against “premature satisfaction” with the apparent failure of the Arab summit conference at Rabat, Morocco last week. Gen. Dayan said the Arabs would continue to build up their military strength and increase the pressure against Israel. He said the Egyptians had been promised more military equipment from Russia but he was confident of the Israel Army’s ability to maintain its position of strength along the Suez Canal and every other front.
Gen. Dayan also warned the Lebanese Government today to expect heavy retaliatory blows from Israel if it did not take action to curb terrorist activities from Lebanese soil. He said Beirut should take cognizance of the blasted towns and villages on the Egyptian side of the Suez Canal and the Jordanian side of the Jordan Valley and “learn their lesson” accordingly. He noted that the Lebanese border differed from the others in that there are no natural barriers such as the Suez Canal or the Jordan River.
He said that attacks from Jordan on Israeli settlements in the Beisan and Jordan valleys caused very few casualties among civilians because of the extensive network of shelters. However, he conceded that there was no way to prevent hit-and-run raids by terrorists who move along Jordanian roads and fire a few Katyusha rockets. He said to seal off Israel from such attacks, a defense line would have to be maintained 20 miles inside of Jordanian territory.
Gen. Dayan said Israeli aircraft have dropped hundreds of tons of bombs on Egyptian positions along the Suez Canal since last Thursday which should convince the Egyptians that they will not be able to cross the canal next summer.
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.
