USSR Accuses Israel of Plot to Topple Syria Regime
U.S., Britain Named;
Israel Rejects Charges
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Israel
Cabinet Monday categorically re-
jected accusations leveled by the
Soviet Union that Israel was plan-
ning to topple the Syrian regime
in a conspiracy with the United
States and British governments.
Official government circles here
had disclosed earlier Monday that
the Soviet government, in a note
handed to the Israel ambassador
in Moscow, Katriel Katz, warned
the Israeli government against "in-
terference in Syrian affairs."
It is understood that the contents
of the note, which was delivered to
Ambassador Katz by a senior offi-
cial of the Soviet Ministry for For-
eign Affairs, was similar to the
warning carried by the Tass News
Agency and other Soviet radio and
press media last week which claim-
ed that Israel, Britain, the United
States and "certain imperialistic
circles In Jordon" were plotting to
overthrow Syria's left-wing govern-
ment,
The warning said that the
USSR would not stand aloof from
alleged Israeli "provocations" in
the Near East, "a region located
in direct proximity to the bor-
ders of the USSR."
The Soviet charges were discuss-
ed in talks between Ambassador
Katz and the Soviet government
and between the Israel Foreign
Ministry and Dmitri Chuvakhin,
the USSR ambassador in Jeru-
salem.
Foreign Minister Abba Eban said
that it was the Syrians who have
been concentrating their forces on
Israel's border and making aggress-
ive statements—not the Israelis. It
has been Syrian marauders who
murdered two Israeli farmers in-
side Israeli territory only three
weeks ago. Statements like those of
the Soviet Union, he declared, only
increase the tension in the area.
The Cabinet approved Foreign
Minister Eban's position which was
also expressed Monday morning in
Paris by Prime Minister Levi Esh-
kol, who was en route to a visit to
Africa.
Observers here explained the So-
viet move as a double-pronged ef-
fort to establish the claim that, if
the Syrian regime remains in pow-
er, it would owe its existence to
Moscow: if it falls, even due to
internal reasons, the Soviet govern-
ment will be able to claim that it
was the work of "imperialistic
plotters."
Premier Eshkol Rebukes Moscow
for Anti-Israel Allegations
PARIS (JTA) — Israel's Prime
Minister Levi Eshkol, who stopped
here en route to a visit to Africa,
said that there was "absolutely no
basis for insinuations and allega-
tions in a Tass statement that, in
relations with other states in the
Middle East, Israel acts as anagent
of any other coun•ry."
Commenting on the charges car-
ried by the Soviet news agency
that Israel, the United States and
Britain were "plotting to over-
throw" the Syrian government, Esh-
kol said that the allegations of Is-
raeli troop concentrations on the
Syrian border were "entirely with-
out foundation."
"Time and again Israel has ex-
pressed the sincere desire as a so-
vereign state in the Middle East
for peace with her neighbors,"
Eshkol said. "It is Syria which is
constantly engaged in provocations
on the frontier. From Syria, infil-
trators come to murder peaceful
agricultural workers on Israeli ter-
ritory as in the recent Alm•gor in-
cident. It is Syria which, from
time to tune, proclaims the inten-
tion to attack Israel.
"It should not be too difficult,"
the Prime Minister added, "for
the Soviet Union to ascertain the
aggressive military order of bat-
tle on the Syrian frontier with
Israel, its range, categories of its
weapons and concentration in
areas where it is forbidden under
the armistice agreement."
"One cannot avoid the suspicion,"
he said, "that Syrian allegations
are being made with the purpose
of hiding malicious designs. Is-
rael's fervent desire for peace and
quiet on the frontiers oblige her
to maintain the maximum possible
restraint on humanitarian grounds.
It should be clear to Syria and to
her friends and indeed to interna-
tional opinion that she must abstain
from acts of provocation, sabotage
and murder."
Eshkol recalled his suggestion in
Israel's Parliament earlier this
month that the abstention in Mos-
cow from offensive statements.
could help to strengthen peace in
the Middle East. "I regret to say
that the latest Tass statement and
articles in a similar vein in the
Soviet Union in the last days, do
not constitute a positive contribu-
tion in this direction."
In the United Nations, Israel
accused the Syrian government of
"direct and open incitement to
war, contrary to the Charter of
the United Nations" against the
provisions of the Israeli-Syrian
armistice agreement el 1949 and
in violation of "the basic prin-
ciples of international law."
The charge was made in a letter
to Dr. J. G. de Beus, of the Nether-
lands, this month's president of the
Security Council, from Ambassador
Michael S. Comay, Israel's perman
ent representative to the United
Nations.
Comay's letter was a reply to
one addressed to Dr. de Beus last
week by Syria's ambassador,
George J. Tomeh, who denied his
government's responsibility for
raids into Israel by El Fatah, the
Arab terrorist group, and charged
Israel with aggressive intentions.
Among other claims, Syria con-
tended that, during March and
April, it had filed 220 complaints
against Israel with the Syrian-Is-
r aeli Mixed Armistice Commission.
"It is unclear," Comay wrote,
"whom this statistic is meant to
impress or mislead. These are
routine complaints, and the Mixed
Armistice Commission has a back-
log of approximately 60,000 like
them. It might be added that Israel
complaints against Syria for the
last month, April, alone total 358,
some of them of grave character."
On the other hand, Comay point-
ed out, Syria's president Dr. Nured-
din al Atassid called for open war
against Israel only 10 days ago,
while Israel's Prime Minister Levi
Eshkol had reiterated' his govern-
ment's "sincere desire for peace"
only last week.
Comay's letter did not call for
a meeting of the Security Council
on its dispute with Syria, request-
ing only that his letter be circulat-
ed as a Security Council docu-
ment.
On Tuesday, Nikolai T. Fedo-
renko, the Soviet ambassador to
the United Nations, reiterated
Soviet government charges that
"imperialist powers and their
agents," including Israel, are at-
tempting "to meddle with the
internal affairs" of Syria.
At a lengthy news conference
here, he repeated a number of the
anti-I s r a e 1 charges previously
voiced by the Soviet news agency,
Tass, including the accusation that,
recently "high ranking United
States officials held conferences
with the government and military
staff of Israel."
"The peoples of the Arab states,"
Fedorenko said, "are well aware
of the danger to the cause of peace
and to their independent develop-
ment by the new intrigues of the
imperialist powers, their reaction-
ary agents in the Middle East and
the ruling quarters of Israel, in
particular the attempts to meddle
with the internal affairs of the
Arab Republic of Syria. For its
part, the Soviet Union, of course,
cannot and will not remain in-
different to the attempts to violate
peace in a region located in direct
proximity to the borders of the
Soviet Union."
In Jerusalem, a foreign min-
istry spokesman reported that Is-
rael was continuing its campaign
to impress foreign governments
with the danger to regional peace
stemming from Syrian sabotage.
He said Foreign Minister Abba
Eban had met in recent days with
ambassadors of France, Britain. and
Russia and informed them that Is-
rael took a grave view of the situa-
tion created by Syrian attacks. He
will meet with other envoys, induct-
Mg Walsworth Barbour of the
United States, for the same pur-
pose.
Political sources emphasized that
Israel would stop being concerned
only when all Syrian aggression
ended.
Four Israel Arabs Arrested;
Court here Monday and charged
with spying for Syria.
They were accused of transfer=
ring material to Syrian intelligence
since 1958. All pleaded not guilty
and were detained for further hear-
ings to be held June 14.
Soviet Campaign Against Israel
Watched With Interest in D.C.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Com-
petent circles here are watching
with utmost interest the campaign
which the Soviet press started
against Israel under the pretext
that Israel is preparing for "pro-
vocations" against Syria. Soviet
newspapers are also attacking Is-
rael for acquiring jet bombers from
the United States.
A statement from Moscow dis-
tributed here by Soviet diplomats
alleged that "high ranking United
States officials recently held con-
ferences with the government and
the general staff of Israel." It
claimed that "aggressive and ex-
tremist forces in Israel are being
spearheaded against neighboring
Arab states" and that "provoca-
tions by Israel in areas bordering
on neighboring countries have be-
come more frequent."
The Soviet statement quoted
press reports as stating that "the
Israeli army has been alerted,
leaves for officers and men have
been canceled, Israeli troops are
being concentrated on the borders
with Syria. The Chief of General
Staff of the Israeli Army, Yitzhak
Rabin, is making provocative
speeches against Arab states, evi-
dently depicting matters as if Is-
rael can lay down what policy
countries bordering on her must
pursue," the Soviet statement as-
serted.
The Soviet Army organ "Red
Star" carries an article criticizing
the U.S. sale of arms to Israel. The
.newspaper said America was try-
ing to "drive a wedge between the
Arab - countries." Another newspa-
per "Sovietskaya Russiya" said
"The new American-Israeli agree-
ment on arms supplies to Israel
has constructed a direct bridge
between Washington and Tel Aviv."
Leaders of Israel, it said, "wish
to serve as a spearhead directed by
imperialism into the heart of the
Arab national liberation move-
ment."
Charged With Spying for Syria
HAIFA (JTA) — Four Israeli
Arabs who were arrested in the
northern part of the country, were THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
brought before the Haifa District 40—Friday, June 3, 1966
Hausner's 'Justice in Jerusalem' Exposes Nazi Crimes,
Describes Statesmen's Indifference and Resistance
Gideon Hausner attracted world
attention when, with great skill,
he conducted the prosecution of
Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. He
was named Israel's attorney gen-
eral two weeks before the an-
nouncement was made in the Israel
Knesset, May 23, 1960, by Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion, that
Eichmann had been captured and
brought to Israel.
From the moment the trial
began in Jerusalem on April 11,
1961, Hausner was in the lime-
light, exposing the Nazi crimes,
proving Eichmann's major role as
"the strongest personification of
satanic principles"—a view of the
mass murderer by a leading Ger-
man.
Many books were written on the
subjeCt of the Eichmann trial, and
numerous articles have appeared
in magazines in many languages,
throughout the world. Hausner's
complete story of the trial, of the
data that was gathered, of t h e
charges against the accused, of
the accusations that Jews had not
resisted sufficiently and other ele-
ments that emerged from that his-
toric case, all are offered in a
thorough account he has written
in his book "Justice in Jerusalem,"
just published by Harper & Row.
The immense value of Haus-
ner's great book lies not only
in the splendid review of the
GIDEON HAUSNER
proceedings, the analysis of the
case against Eichmann, the rec- .
ord that was compiled, the testi-
mony on both sides, the evidence
of Nazi guilt; but even as much,
if not more, in the evaluation of
the issues emerging from anti-
Semitism, of the world public
opinion, of the roles that were
played by world leaders.
Since the Eichmann trial, Pope
Pius XII was among those accused
of having failed to act to help
prevent the - atrocities. Hausner
deals with the position that was
taken by the head of the Catholic
church, and he points, in one in-
stance, to the courageous stand of
Bishop von Galen who spoke out
against the planned mass murder
of insane people by Hitler. The
von Galen stand led to abandon-
ment of the Hitler plan. Hausner
writes in referring to this incident:
"The fact that the Supreme Pon-
tiff and the overwhelming majority
of the clergy held their peace
while the crimes were being com-
mitted disturbed many consci-
ences. Moreover, it was proved
that a strong and courageous stand
on the part of the church against
another Nazi crime, the destruc-
tion of the insane, did stop the
murders. This will be recorded to
the credit of Bishop (later Cardi-
nal) von Galen. We can only specu-
late heartbreakingly how many
Jewish lives could have been saved
by a similar stand on the part of
Rome through an encyclical ex-
pressly forbidding Catholics to
murder the innocent Jews."
There is a detailed account
of the revelations of Kurt Ger-
stein, whose testimony forms a
major part of Hochhuth's "The
Deputy." Hausner tells about
Gerstein's expose of the Nazi
crimes, his arrest, his suicide by
hanging on June 7, 1945, in a
Paris prison, to avoid further
torture by his Nazi captors.
The world's diplomats are not
exonerated of guilt in the death
of a third of the Jewish nation
because of their silence. Allied
leaders are blamed, American,
British and Russian statesmen are
held responsible for what had
transpired.
Because Hitler's representatives
were received with diplomatic hon-
ors wherever they went, they ac-
quired status of glory for Nazism,
and their guilt thus is linked with
those of the Nazis themselves. In-
stance after instance is quoted to
substantiate this charge and be-
cause Washington, London, Moscow
and other world capitals resorted_
to claims of "technical difficul-
ties" for their failure to bomb
Auschwitz and other concentration
camps, as had been suggested,
they stand accused of sharing guilt
for the holocaust. Eichmann him-
self is quoted as having said that
if the world's powers had "stretched
out their arms even a little to take
in the Jews, not a single deporta-
tion train would have left for any
concentration camp."
Hausner's charge against Pius
XII is that his inactivity was tanta-
mount to "a temporary abdication
of spiritual leadership."
Hausner rejects t h e charge
that Jews failed to resist. He
points to "the most deeply rooted
drive of all (among the Nazi
victims) : to endure, to hold out,
to live through it." He quotes
numerous instances to indicate
how Jews held on to their faith,
how they resisted. He mentions
the names of Jewish Council
members who chose death rather
than compile lists of other Jews
who were to be murdered. He
States: "In the hundreds of me-
morial books in the destroyed
communities there are reports
of similar acts."
- Hausner states there were good
reasons for Jewish requests that
the concentration and extermina-
tion camps be bombed. Chaim
Weizmann had made such a re-
quest. But these appeals were ig-.
nored or rejected by both Wash-
ington and London. John J. McCloy
is quoted as having told Dr. Ku-
bowitzki (Kubovy).—he died two
weeks ago—that "such an opera-
tion could be executed only by the
diversion of considerable air sup-
port essential to the success of
our forces now engaged in decisive
operations elsewhere."
Hausner declares at this point:
'The saving of Jewish lives was,
apparently, „neither 'essential' nor
`decisive'."
Hausner's "Justice in Jerusalem"
is a most important work. It sheds
light on an historic case, it exposes
criminals, it shows how indiffer-
ence contributed to the tragedy
and it defends the Jewish will to
live and the extent of an honored
resistance. This volume deserves
a place among the best sellers.
—P. S.