U Thant Reported Cooling a Request by Israel to Apprise Jordan of Grave Situation

Secretary General U Thant appeared today to take a casual approach to an urgent request by Israel’s Ambassador Yosef Tekoah that the Jordanian government be apprised “of the full implication that would ensue from a declaration repudiating the cease-fire.” The request, contained in a letter from Mr. Tekoah to Mr. Thant was, according to a United Nations spokesman, being circulated to all member states. “There is no indication that the Secretary General will do more at this time,” the spokesman added. The letter, which was delivered to Mr. Thant yesterday, was in response to an announcement Friday by Jordan’s Foreign Minister Abdul Munaim Rifai on Lebanese television and reported by the Middle East News Agency that he “agreed with Nasser” that the cease-fire between Arabs and Israel was non-existent. Sources at the UN described Mr. Thant’s failure so far to communicate with the Jordanian government as an act of “procrastination.”

At the same time, Jordan’s Ambassador to the UN, Muhammed H. El-Farra, submitted a letter to Security Council President Max Jakobson of Finland stating that the Security Council “and particularly the permanent members primarily responsible for international peace and security” are “duty bound to act in order to save both the lives of the innocent and the prestige of the United Nations authority.” Mr. El-Farra did not call for a Security Council meeting to deal with what he termed “Israeli arrogance and acts of lawlessness.” He offered no explanation of how the Council could “act” without calling a formal meeting. The Jordanian ambassador charged in his letter that “further Israeli attacks…are mainly directed against civilians and threaten their means of livelihood. He cited a series of actions by Israel from January 1 to April 10 in which “over 85 attacks were carried out.” (The letters by Mr. Tekoah and Mr. El-Farra and the announcement that the cease-fire was non-existent came against a background of renewed and intensified shellings by Jordan of Israeli settlements in the Beisan Valley and a resurgence of Egyptian military activity in the Suez Canal zone.)

Mr. El-Farra cited as one instance that of Israeli pilots who “strafed” a “funeral procession” in the village of Esh-Shuna Esh-Shamaliy on April 10, resulting in “a high toll of casualties: six civilians killed and 18 wounded, two of them seriously” in addition, “three civilian cars were destroyed.” Mr. El-Farra also alluded to the “strafing” of another funeral procession in a small, unidentified Jordanian village, resulting in “the killing and wounding of 24 civilians in a few minutes.” He charged that this was an “irresponsible act dictated by a policy of ruthlessness instilled in the souls and minds of Israeli pilots and soldiers.” He said “the international community cannot afford to remain silent, and the Security Council should not continue to shelve such complaints without taking effective and protective measures.” Mr. El-Farra further charged that Israel was using Jordanian airspace and territory as “a testing ground for newly delivered American Phantoms, rockets and other military equipment.” This, he said, constitutes a gross violation of the armistice agreement and the cease-fire.

TEKOAH: ACTIONS BY ISRAEL DIRECTED AGAINST IRREGULAR FORCES NOT AGAINST CIVILIANS

Answering these charges, Mr. Tekoah, in a letter to Mr. Jakobson said the action in the Esh-Shuna Esh-Shamaliy area was “carried out against the sources of attacks on the Israeli town of Beit Shean and on villages in the Beit Shean Valley.” He said “the shelling of these Israeli civilian targets by Katyusha rockets was boastfully publicized in a communique issued that day by the terrorist organization El Assifa.” Mr. Tekoah observed that other Israeli raids on so-called civilian target areas in Jordan were actions against irregular forces abetted by Jordanian authorities. He assailed the “despicable nature of the aggression against Israel from Jordanian territory” demonstrated recently by the choosing of the first night of Passover for the shelling of a number of Beisan Valley villages while hundreds of inhabitants were assembled for holiday celebrations.

Mr. Tekoah assailed “the continuation of the Jordanian government’s attempt to cover up its utter disregard for the cease-fire.” The ambassador noted that acts of aggression emanating from Jordanian territory by regular and irregular forces “are continuing unabated.” He stated that the operations of the irregulars engaged in terrorist warfare against Israeli civilians “are coordinated with the Jordanian authorities” and that “the armed attacks are directed against Israeli villages and towns and other civilian targets.” Mr. Tekoah added, “Israel is compelled to act in self-defense. Its actions are aimed at the sources of fire and at the bases of aggression on Jordanian territory.” In his letters to the Secretary General and the President of the Security Council, Mr. Tekoah emphasized that the Jordanian announcement that the cease-fire was non-existent “indicates a further grave development in Jordan’s policy” assumed by it under the cease-fire resolution. “It will be recalled.” Mr. Tekoah wrote in his letter to Mr. Thant, “that the cease-fire is unconditional except for being based on reciprocity and that the Security Council rejected all proposals to link it to any other matters whatever, including the question of withdrawal.” Mr. Tekoah’s reference to withdrawal was seen as a rebuttal of Mr. Rifai’s reported statement Friday which included the observation that Jordan would not feel obliged to observe the cease-fire as long as Israel has its troops in occupied territories.