Authoritative sources indicated today that Israel would no longer wait for specific terrorist acts to retaliate but would initiate preventive action to forestall terrorist plans. The sources described yesterday’s air raids on terrorist bases in Lebanon and Syria as a preventive action and said it was successful. The sources observed that while Israel has cease-fire agreements with its neighbor states, it is at war with the terrorist organizations and in such warfare anything can be expected.
Premier Golda Meir said in Jerusalem last night that the latest raids were intended to show El Fatah that “Jewish blood cannot be spilled with impunity.” Addressing a group of visitors from the Mizrachi Women’s Organization of America, she said that the terrorists responsible for the Lod Airport massacre and the Munich killings were trained in Lebanon and Syria. “That is where they plan how to kill Israelis and Jews. That’s where the letter bombs are prepared,” she said.
Sources here said that Israeli jets bombed a terrorist coastal base at Ras Naba south of the Litani River delta yesterday in order to protect Israeli shipping against possible sea-borne operations by the terrorists and to forestall terrorist infiltration of Israeli territory by sea. They described the base as consisting of a makeshift jetty in a natural bay that sheltered small boats of various types which, despite their small size, were sea-going and constituted a possible hazard to Israeli shipping. The sources said the Israeli pilots reported no anti-aircraft fire and no opposing aircraft when they raided the base.
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.
