Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-29
continued From First Page

las rash and untimely. Even the
most articulate governm n I
spokesman are having q hard
time rationalizing an action
which seems to pull the rug so
neatly out from under Mr.. Shar-
EFT and undo most Of the effort
that has been made so far.
Doubts Arising
Quite obviously. a number OF
Israeli leaders are beginning to
have serious doubts about the
policy Of retaliation itself. For
several years, the government
has followed an official plan of
mounting periodic military re-
lprisals as an answer to repeated
border violations from the Arab
side. Earlier major actions have
included the raid on the Jor-
danian town of Kibya on Oc-
tober IA. 1853, in which SO Arabs,
including many civilians, were
killed; on GAIA on February %,
1855 where SIS Egyptian soldiers
were killed. and on Ell Auia. In
the demilitarized zone between
Egypt and Israel, where, by Is
raeli count, so were Silled.
Today, most Israelis are still
convinced that these raids served
q .useful--if short-term-pur-
lpose They point out that after
the blow at Kibya, the Jordanian
border was quiet for nearly a
year. The infiltrationS for which
THE Jordanian government dis
claimed responsibility
A similar result is claimed for
the attack on GAIA, where in
filtrators had caused consider
able damage and loss Of life by
acts of sabotage. At FL Auja. they
say, the Egyptians were ousted
from positions which they had IL
legally occupied within the de-
militarized zone.
/ At the same time, the Israelis
admit that their policy Of or
ganized retaliation has cost them
dearly in world opinion. The kill
ing Of civilians at Kibya is now
admitted to have been Every
unfortunate" and subsequent
raids have been directed against
strictly military detectives. Even
so, it is impossible to control
exactly who will get hurt in
military operations of this sort,
or limit the casualties to num-
bers which world opinion might
consider reasonable"
Cost Of Retaliation
| All along, a powerful group Of
Israeli politicians-led by Mr..
Sharett-have argued that the
retaliation policy costs Israel
more than 1t is worth. Mr.. Ben
Gurion has been its chief advo-
cate. And while the latest raid
on Tiberius shapes up as a per-
sonal decision taken by Ben
Gurion, the result seems likely
to strengthen the arguments of
his more moderate colleagues.
Logically. t seems perfectly
clear that unless Israel wishes
to provoke a war with the Arab
states very soon-and few quail
fed observers here believe this
she will have to abandon her
policy of retaliation. In view of
Egypt's imminent military super
iority. operations of this sort will
soon involve risks which no sane
government could accept. Mean
while. Israel can hardly afford
to ignore the effect of such raids
on world opinion at a time when
she desperately seeks support
from the West.
! But if retaliation is finally
outlawed as Israeli policy, the
question remains: What policy is
to be substituted in its place
The people here see no possibility
that there will be any letup OF
pressure on their borders. II
anything. they say. organized
linfiltration and sabotage are ex-
I pected to increase as Egyptian
military strength grows. OBJ
viously. reprisals on the same
scale--by individual saboteurs OF
small suicide squadrons"-make
little appeal and would provide
mo solution. Supine acceptance
of the practice, say the Israelis.
would become intolerable over
a long period.
| To this question, Western ad-
visors have only one stock an
swer: Settle finally with the
Arabs now. on whatever terms