ISRAEL & UK: ISRAELI RESERVISTS JOIN ARMY AND ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER EBAN VISITS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER WILSON.

Record ID: 399555

  • Title: ISRAEL & UK: ISRAELI RESERVISTS JOIN ARMY AND ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER EBAN VISITS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER WILSON.
  • Date: 24th May 1967
  • Summary: ISRAEL - RESERVISTS BOARD BUS; SOLDIERS RECEIVE PAPERS AND EQUIPMENT; BUS LEAVES' LONDON - MR. EBAN WITH PRESS OUTSIDE PRIME MINISTER'S RESIDENCE. Initials JF/VS/JH/EEH Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 8th June 1967 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL & LONDON, UK
  • City:
  • Country: England United Kingdom Israel France
  • Reuters ID: LVAEPUKLOLGE80QCW9YQGUT3WMDA
  • Story Text: ISRAEL'S NEWLY-MOBILISED MILITARY FORCES GAINED FURTHER SUPPORT TODAY (WEDNESDAY) AS MORE ISRAELI RESERVISTS LEFT TEL AVIV TO TAKE UP THEIR POSITIONS ALONG THE BORDERS WITH THE SURROUNDING ARAB STATES. MEANWHILE, ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER, MR. ABBA EBAN ARRIVED IN LONDON FOR TALKS WITH BRITISH PRIME MINISTER HAROLD WILSON, ON HIS WAY TO WASHINGTON. EARLIER MR. EBAN HAD MET FRENCH PRESIDENT GENERAL DE GAULLE IN PARIS TO DISCUSS THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS.

    ISRAELI RESERVISTS CONTINUED TO RECEIVE THEIR EQUIPMENT AND BRIEFING AS TOURISTS RUSHED TO LEAVE ISRAEL ON THE ADVICE OF THE WESTERN EMBASSIES. TENSION HAS BEEN HIGH IN ISRAEL SINCE PRESIDENT NASSER'S ANNOUNCEMENT YESTERDAY OF HIS INTENTION TO BLOCKADE THE GULF OF AQABA. THIS DECISION WAS FURTHER IMPLEMENTED TODAY WITH REPORTS FROM CAIRO THAT THE U.A.R. HAD PLANTED MINES ACROSS THE MOUTH OF THE GULF THROUGH WHICH SHIPPING MUST PASS TO REACH ISRAEL'S VITAL PORT OF EILAT.

    ISRAEL DENOUNCED THIS ACTION TODAY AS A FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF MARITIME LAW, WHICH WOULD AMOUNT TO AN ACT OF AGGRESSION AGAINST ISRAEL. HIS COUNTRY WOULD, HE SAID, CLING TO ITS RIGHT OF FREE PASSAGE THROUGH THE GULF.

    MR. EBAN'S ARRIVAL IN PARIS WAS UNEXPECTED. HE DISCUSSED THE MIDDLE EAST SITUATION WITH PRESIDENT DE GAULLE, WHO, WITH THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT, IS WORKING FOR CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN THE FOUR BIG POWERS TO MAINTAIN PEACE IN THE CRISIS AREA.

    THE ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER THEN LEFT FOR ENGLAND, WHERE HE OUTLINED HIS PEACE PLANS. TO MR. WILSON, THE OBJECT OF HIS VISIT , SAID REPORTS, WAS TO DETERMINE HOW FAR ISRAEL COULD COUNT ON ACTIVE SUPPORT FROM PARIS AND WASHINGTON IN THE EVENT OF WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THIS HAS ASSUMED GREAT IMPORTANCE FOLLOWING MOSCOW'S DECLARATION OF SUPPORT FOR THE ARAB COUNTRIES.

    MR. EBAN TOLD REPORTERS THAT HE WISHED TO ASSESS THE ATTITUDE OF THE ATTITUDE OF THE OTHER GOVERNMENTS AFFECTED BY THE CLOSURE OF THE GULF. DURING THE 1957 CONFLICT, WHICH CENTRED AROUND JUST SUCH A CLOSURE, THE MAJOR WESTERN GOVERNMENTS EXPRESSED THEIR INTENTION TO MAINTAIN THEIR RIGHT OF PASSAGE THROUGH THE GULF OF AQABA.
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