ISRAELI-SYRIAN CLASHES High alert on frontier

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33480, 11 March 1974, Page 13

ISRAELI-SYRIAN CLASHES High alert on frontier

Z P A -Reuter—Copyright)

JERUSALEM, March 10.

The Prime Minister (Mrs Golda Meir), heading a new coalition Government. will today seek a knesset (Parliament) vote of confidence while Israeli forces remain on high alert along the northern frontier with Svria.

Only one minor incident there occurred yesterday. The Israelis said that the Syrians fired a few shells at Israeli positions, but that Israeli units did not return the fire. This came after a series of sharp exchanges between Israeli and Syrian ground forces on Friday. Both sides are reported to have been maintaining heightened air activity in an apparent move to spot any new military movements. But the aircraft were said to be carefully staying within then own space. The scheduled seven-hour Parliamentary debate preceding the confidence vote is expected to be a particularly stormy one, the opposition charging that the 75-year-old head of Government exploited the military situation with Syria to help her form a new coalition.

But the new Government, consisting of the same political partners as the outgoing Cabinet, commands 68 of the 120 votes in the Knesset and so is assured of winning the confidence vote. The final hurdle was crossed last night when the National Religious Party (N.R.P.) named its four Cabinet representatives. Reflecting the deep-rooted split within the party over whether to join the coalition. One of the representatives, Dr Zerah Warhaftig, refused to take up his projected Cabinet post.

Dr Warhaftig was the Religious Affairs Minister in the outgoing Cabinet and destined for the same post in rhe new Government. Despite his refusal, his party has voted to keep the post open for him. The new Cabinet very much resembles the old one.

All of the key figures have been renamed including the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Yigal ” Allon, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Abba Eban, the Defence Minister, General Moshe Dayan, and the Finance Minister, Mr Pinhas Sapir. Creation of the new Government ends six weeks of heated negotiations among the various political parties and bitter feuding within the individual parties, including the dominant Labour Alignment Party, the Independent Liberals, and the N.R.P.

One of the gravest issues confronting the new Government is the opening of negotiations with Syria on a separation of forces agreement similar to the one in effect with Egypt.