An Onslaught of Rigidity

A particularly virulent and popular commentator for Cairo's Voice of the Arabs named Ahmed Said last week called for instant death for any Arab leader who dares to open negotiations with Israel. Though Said is a better propagandist than politician, it was a fool hardy Arab leader indeed who could ignore his warning; the sentiments are shared by a large part of the population. Trapped by their own propaganda, split once more into rival factions and disappointed in their Russian allies, the Arabs seem no closer to any form of negotiation with Israel than they were when the "six-day" war ended six weeks ago.

In the United Nations, the Arab-Russian disillusionment reached its apex. Discouraged by their unsuccessful attempt to get the General Assembly to demand the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Arab territory, the Russians, with American encouragement, tried to persuade the Arabs to accept a resolution that tied withdrawal to recognition of Israel. The Arabs indignantly turned it down. When Russia and the U.S. then voted with a majority of the Assembly to send the entire Middle East issue back to the Security Council, the Arabs accused the Russians of betraying them, promised to carry on the fight on their own.

Bear Hugs. As they listen to Arab fulminations, the Russians are becoming more cautious about their involvement with the Arabs. They gave a bear hug to Algeria's Houari Boumediene when he visited Moscow last week--but little else. They were aware that Boumediene is trying to stake a claim to leadership of the Arab left, but they made plain that Nasser is still their No. 1 man in the Middle East; after all, they have already replaced 200 of his 350 destroyed planes. Boumediene went to Moscow straight from Cairo, where five of the more militant and left-leaning Arab chiefs rattled threats against Israel, called for a "second round" of war when the time is ripe and made some big talk about damaging Britain and the U.S. with economic boycotts. "The Arab resistance will go on," cried Boumediene. "Continuous blows will be dealt to those who violate the sanctity of our countries and our peoples."

Jordan's King Hussein was so discouraged by what he heard in Cairo on his recent trip that he returned home to Amman in despondency. In an interview with TIME Correspondent Lee Griggs and Managing Editor Otto Fuerbringer, he said that he has lost all hope for an Arab summit conference, at which he had hoped to persuade his fellow Arabs to a more reasonable course--even though he continues to call for one. Jordan, he said, now found itself trapped between Communism and Zionism. It would still try to follow "the moderate way, as before," but the outlook "is not bright. The pressures are great, particularly the pressures of Arab extremism, which is not helping us solve the problems brought on by the current catastrophe." Hussein declares that he will not allow Jordan to slip into the Soviet orbit, is convinced that Jordan's future is still best served by friendship with the West. He has been encouraged by hints from Secretary of State Dean Rusk that the U.S. might resume military aid to his country.

Conspicuous Showing. While the Arab position, despite Hussein's reasonable words, was rigidly frozen by the hawkishness of the left, the Israelis were daily becoming more rigid in their own positions. It was quite apparent that they expect to hold the conquered territory for a long time. They hauled big guns and little patrol boats over the desert to the banks of the Suez Canal, where a handful of blue-helmeted U.N. observers finally took up positions to guard the cease-fire line, conspicuously flying the blue-and-white U.N. flag to ward off trigger-happy soldiers on both sides. They sent technicians into the Sinai desert to begin working the captured Egyptian oil wells, which could easily fulfill all of Israel's oil needs. And Premier Levi Eshkol, who had only a few weeks ago disavowed Defense Minister Moshe Dayan's statement about keeping the Gaza Strip, said last week that the area "must remain Israeli."

The Israelis were also becoming aggressive about details. They insisted that the cease-fire line at Suez went right down the middle of the canal, and were ready to drop their little patrol boats into the water to establish legal precedent for the later passage of bigger Israeli shipping. The Egyptians, who insist that the cease-fire line is on the east bank, captured one boat, warned that any others put into the canal would be blasted out of the water. At week's end the only penetration of the canal was by some dusty Israeli troopers trying to cool off in the 120-degree heat.

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