The Israel Parliament rejected today, by a vote of 33 to 5, a Herut demand for a national referendum on the question of whether the government should withdraw further from the Akaba and Gaza areas.
Finance Minister Levi Eshkol, speaking for the government, said that it was useless to hold such a referendum since both the people of Israel and the world was very well aware of the government’s intention of budging no further until it had obtained adequate guarantees it sought of navigation rights and security. He underlined the readiness of the Israeli people to back up their government with heavy personal sacrifices, if needed, and asserted that a referendum under these circumstances would be “superficial.”
The Israel naval unit in the port of Elath has been reinforced by the overland shipment of a number of high speed torpedo boats, it was revealed here today. Two Israeli frigates sailed completely around the continent of Africa recently to enter the Gulf of Akaba and become the nucleus of the Israeli naval fleet guarding the port which may soon become Israel’s second most important commercial harbor. The small PT-type boats have already been tested in shakedown maneuvers in the Gulf of Akaba.
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