Israel and Her Neighbours
General:Robertson's visit to Israel is timely. His concern is the defence of the Middle East, and he is not obliged to believe, as do some of its neighbours, that the State of Istael .does not exist or that its small but efficient army is maintained solely for aggressive purposes. The nature of the General's talks with Israeli politicians is being shrouded with suitable secrecy, but, since Israel gave up serious hope of " neutralism " even before the Arab League, the general line of discussion can be guessed at. Although the General will have found his hosts cordial and businesslike, there are two clouds on Israel's horizod today (quite apart from the chronic economic storm) which have some bearing on her international role. The first is the apparently final breakdown of the coalition between Mapai and the religious bloc, which leaves the country open to the uncertainties of a _general election or to a new makeshift coalition—or to both. An election would be in most ways the most satisfactory solution, and the main parties, are in favour of it, but as there is no election law under which it can be held a further period of uncertainty is unavoidable. The second and more serious diffi- culty concerns the relations. between Israel and her neighbour. Jordan. The frontier between the two States is fixed but not scaled. Clandestine crossings have been frequent, but they have not as a rule led to " incidents." In the past month there have, however, been a whole series of incidents in which armed Israelis, in retaliation for real or imagined grievances, have murdered civilians inside the Arab border with deliberate ferocity. The criminals have not been disowned or punished, and their acts have pushed the prospect of a genuine peace between Israel and Jordan further into the background than ever.
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