The surprise visit of El Fatah leader Yasser Arafat to Moscow has touched off speculation that Soviet Russia might be revising its policies toward the Palestinian guerrilla groups which hitherto has been not render them direct aid. Sources close to the British Government predicted that Moscow will either announce a new policy or will re-interpret “direct aid.”
They said the reason for this departure was that support for Arab terrorists was a safe way to harrass Israel without the risk of involvement in a major Mideast conflict and without supplying the Arabs with the latest, most sophisticated weapons.
In the Russian view, these sources say, support for El Fatah and like organizations would be a means of toppling King Hussein’s pro-Western regime in Jordan and substituting one of leftist orientation such as the Baathist regime in Syria. Most Western experts believe that Israel would have no trouble mastering the guerrillas, even if trained and equipped by the Russians.
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.
