Evening star., 1953-10-25
IsrueI
Are q Reckless Few
PeriIing Near East?
By Richard FrkIund

aroused fears that q small reckless
group In Israel may be agitating for
a resumption Of war with the Arabs.
The danger apparently is not
immediate. But 1t Is serious enough
to make the United States put
pressure on Israel to hold the hot
heads in check. The United Ma
tions also is worried. The Security
Council started an investigation last
week
The U. N. inquiry will have to go
back to i949, when the Arab Legion
ana the Israeli army signed an ar
mistice which fixed the border of
Israel pending final settlement.
The temporary" border was based
on the military front, not on any
logical or equitable allotment of
territory between Israel and the
adjoining countries of Lebanon, Sy-
ria, Jordan and Egypt. There have
been no significant changes since
and no indication that q permanent
settlement can be reached.
Source of Trouble
The arbitrary border has caused
trouble ever since the truce. Hard
ly a night goes by without some
incident of across the border steal
ing or shooting or cattle rustling.
Serious incidents are investigated
by the U. N. Truce Supervision
Organization or one of the Mixed
Armistice Commissions, made up of
Israeli, Arab and U. N. representa-
tiveS.
About six weeks ago the number
Of serious clashes began to increase
steadily. And more and more fire.
quently the official investigation
concluded that the guilty party was
Israel.
Three clashes were particularly
alarming:
. Jordan RiUGr Dam. The Israeli are
building Q dam from their side of
the river to an island in the middle.
It will divert some of the water into
Israeli power projects. Syria, on
the other side Of the Jordan, pro-
tested to the U. N. truce organiza-
ton that the dam actually would
have military uses-a violation of
the truce, Syria said, which de-
militarized the river. The U. N,
group told Israel to halt construc-
tion pending an investigation. But
instead of stopping, Israel stepped
up the pace of construction.
. Ell AURA. Israel moved troops into
the town of Ell Auja, in a disputed,
but legally demilitarized, area on
the 1Srael-Egypt border. Egypt
protested. A mixed commission re-
ported that Israel did not cooperate
in the resultant investigation. The
troops, however, were reported to
have been moved out.
. Kibyd. Israeli citizens crossed the
border into Jordan and shot up the
village OF Kibya. More than 60
civilians were reported killed. It
was the most serious Skirmish since
the war. A mixed commission said
Israel violated the border. Israel
said the raid was in retaliation for
Jordan raids on Israel territory and
denied that Israeli troops were in
volved.
Not Government Policy
A study of the situation indicates
that it is not official Israeli govern
ment policy to provoke the Arab
states into another war. Instead
there seems to be an aggressive.
nationalist element in Israel which
Is tired of waiting for a peaceful
solution to Israel's economic and
population problems and is using
the army outpostS to stir up trouble.
The Israeli Army is a good one
Tar better, it demonstrated five years
ago, than the old-fashioned Arab
military machine. irresponsible
Israeli might well be confident that
a new war could add substantially
to Israel'S territory.
These apparently inspired border
incidents come at a time when
rumors are current in the Tel Aviv
streets that the moderate, sensible
Premier of Israel, David Ben Gurion,
is about to resign. If an aggressive
Premier takes over, the outlook for
peace in the Middle East will be, to
say the least, uncertain.
Bright Spots
But the picture is not entirely
gloomy.
There probably is no foreign coun-
try more sensitive to world public
opinion, and particularly American
opinion, than Israel. The tiny new
nation is dependent on foreign
financial support and is closely
attuned to foreign moral support
in its struggle for survival. If the
world suddenly turns against Israel,
she will lose both money and friends
both essential to the new Jewish
sanctuary.
There is another bright spot. The
fighting. They will be inclined to
use invective rather than armed
force against the Israeli.
The Western world has moved
fast in the past two weeks to put
moral and financial pressure on Is
rael and to give the Arab nations a
chance to shout their complaints to
the four winds.
Britain and the United States
protested to Israel and pointed out
that all respectable nations abide by
the decisions of United Nations COM
missions. Secretary of State Dulles
last week said that foreign aid funds
for Israel amounting to $50 million
or $50 million will be withheld be-
cause of Israels refusal to stop work
on the Jordan dam.
The Big Three, United States,
Britain and France, decided to bring
the Israel-Arab dispute before the
U. N. Security Council.