Israel’s press took a gloomy view today of the newly gained independence of South Arabia which “adds another voice to the anti-Israel chorus,” but predicted that the new Arab nation, which commands the entrance to the Red Sea, would not be able to carry out its threat to blockade Israel shipping.
Editorials on the subject appeared in five of Israel’s 11 Hebrew dailies. All agreed that South Arabia may try to close the Straits of Bab el Mandab to Israeli vessels, but could not for reasons of geography. The straits, connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, leading into the Indian Ocean, are much wider than the Strait of Tiran leading into the Gulf of Akaba. Moreover, their western bank is in French Somaliland,
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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.
