ISRAELI-ARAB BORDER TENSION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01443R000300330011-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 23, 2003
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: March 9, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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Approved For Release 2003/10/07: CIA-RDP80Ra
9 March 1955
1443R000300330011-2
25X1 ISRAELI-ARAB BORDER TENSION
Border incidents between Israel and the Arab states of
Egypt, Jordan and Syria have continued since the Israeli attack
against the Egyptian army post at Gaza on 28 February. The
movement of Israeli troops has been reported as a possible prep-
aration for general hostilities should the Arab states retaliate
sharply.
While the Gaza area is currently quiet and refugee rioters
have been quelled, Israeli incursions into Jordan and Syria have
resulted in at least four Jordanian deaths and in the formal
alerting of the Jordanian Arab Legion. Israeli troop movements
toward both Gaza and Jerusalem have been noted and the con-
struction of hasty field fortifications by the Israelis on the
Jordanian border have also been reported.
Israel, frustrated in its diplomatic efforts to obtain
defense commitments from Western powers and exasperated with
Egypt, apparently planned the aggressive Gaza "episode" partly
to bring the whole Arab-Israeli border issue again before the
UN Security Council. The council is scheduled to meet on the
Gaza incident about 15 March. Continuing border incidents
may be designed to keep the issue before world attention as
well as to warn the Arabs.
Approved For Release 2003/10/07 : CIA-RDP80R01443R000300330011-2
 Approved For Release 2003/10/07 : CIA-RDP80RO1443R000300330011-2
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Another incident on the scale of the Gaza attack would
make it very difficult, however, for the Egyptians to refrain
from retaliating in force, and Israel might launch a general
attack if the Arabs can be provoked into such retaliation.
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Approved For Release 4003/10/07 : CIA-RDP80RO1444R000300330011-2