FROM OUR ARCHIVES
65 YEARS AGO
On May 18, 1951, The Jerusalem Post reported that the dispatch to Syria of aircraft and artillery from Iraq “compels a state of high alertness for Israel and conveys a warning against the use of Iraqi troops in Syrian aggression.” This was contained in a statement issued by foreign minister and acting prime minister Moshe Sharett, who added that the new alignment of the forces of the Arab League provided a sinister background for the draft resolution on the Hula dispute before the UN Security Council.
At Flushing Meadow, Abba Eban, Israel’s delegate to the UN, was “shocked by the rash and one-sided resolution” before the UN Security Council, a demand that Israel stop the draining of the Hula marshes, a request which Eban said would make the UN the protector of a swamp.”
The work on the Hula drainage scheme went on without incident and the pouring of a concrete dam continued.
With the arrest of three more men in Jerusalem, police believed they now had in custody the top leaders of the underground League of Zealots, and that the group was “finished, at least temporarily, as a functioning terrorist body.”
A broadly planned scheme for popular housing to be financed out of monthly savings was approved by the government. The scheme called for building of 48,000 family units during each of the four years beginning in 1952.
“Israel is ready for peace with Arab nations any time they are ready to unite and talk peace, but it is also ready for war,” prime minister David Ben-Gurion, told the city of Pittsburgh’s welcoming committee, after his arrival there from Boston.
50 YEARS AGO
On May 18, 1966, The Jerusalem Post reported that prime minister Levi Eshkol told the Knesset that deterrent action would be taken to prevent murderers from crossing the borders, if the government’s policy of self-restraint failed and the sabotage and murder raids continued.
In Cairo, Soviet prime minister Alexei Kosygin, in his first reference to Israel, endorsed the Egyptian position, and contented himself with asking for “a just settlement” of the dispute and expressed hope that refugees will “regain their legal rights”. He insinuated that Israel was ambitious to acquire atomic weapons.
Transport minister Moshe Carmel called upon Haifa Port workers to return to normal work immediately. He said the government would adopt “no drastic measures” to deal with the 19-day-long go-slow of the dockers, but at the same time would stand fast against pressure. Carmel criticized the dockers for harming Israel’s economy and hinted that ships may be diverted to Ashdod or even to Tel Aviv.
10 YEARS AGO
On May 18, 2006, The Jerusalem Post reported that prime minister Ehud Olmert said he was willing to meet with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, but added that he doubted that negotiations with a Hamas-led Palestinian government would lead anywhere.
Yasser Arafat used millions of dollars of international aid and taxes, previously transferred to the Palestinian Authority by Israel, to purchase large quantities of weapons, the PA chairman’s former financial aide Fuad Shubaki told the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
Defense minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to prepare an evacuation plan for 12 illegal outposts in the West Bank.
A delegation of Jewish community leaders from Venezuela arrived here, as part of a mission intended to explore options for Venezuelan Jews who wanted to leave the troubled South American country and move to Israel.