By ALEXANDER ZVIELLI
65 years ago:
On July 9, 1941, The Palestine Post reported that contrary to German reports of their successful continued advance deep into Soviet territory, the Red Army continued to claim that it had stopped the Nazi progress, and that it successfully counterattacked at some strategic points.
General Claude Auchinleck, the new Allied commander in the Middle East, welcomed a large contingent of South African troops that had safely arrived in Egypt to join other Allied forces in the Western Desert area.
There were no casualties and little damage in a prolonged enemy air attack on Haifa.
According to a new procedure all Palestinian [Jewish and Arab] US entry visas had to first be cleared in Washington.
50 years ago:
On July 9, 1956, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli ambassador to Britain, Eliahu Elath, told the British press about an Arab "red herring" - namely the supposed report of the massing of IDF troops - which he described as a "pure fiction." Elath also said that the unjustified claim made by Selwyn Lloyd, the British foreign secretary, that Israel enjoyed arms superiority plus Arab war scare claims could lead to disastrous consequences.
Jordan massed a large force behind the armistice lines and claimed "a great victory." Syria and Egypt threatened to follow this example of military preparations which could end in a real war.
25 years ago:
On July 9, 1981, the Post reported that an argument had broken between Israel and the US over the immunities to be enjoyed by soldiers of the multinational forces planned to police Sinai after the Israeli withdrawal. The State Department expressed concern that little progress had been made in US-Israeli-Egyptian negotiations over Palestinian autonomy.
A convention of Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, which was scheduled for Israel, had been cancelled "due to the pressure of Jewish organizations."
- Alexander Zvielli