Gunboat Incident Causes Furor in French Circles • "They are not gunboats be- I our money back and the matter is the government's response to Is- are no guns aboard." • now between the French and the pected to pass between Crete and rael would not be known until af- cause there the open ter the French cabinet's session Brenner said in an interview at new owners," the embassy spokes- Rhodes before making sea run to Israel. where they were Wednesday. • Seim's home. "They are good, fast man is reported to have said. In Paris Sunday, Foreign Minis- The severance of diplomatic vessels which will be used in oil expected to arrive late Wednesday relations with Israel has not been drilling operations off the coast of ter Jacques Chaban-Delmas or- Thursday. or There were "smiles all around excluded, but informed sources Israel and Indonesia, and perhaps dered a full-scale inquiry into the gunboat affair. Former Informa- America," he said. in Israel." the London Sunday Ex- here said a strong diplomatic in South The five boats slipped out of lion Minister Louis Terrenoire, press reported. as the news of the protest was likely. president of the Franco - Arab France was expected to declare Cherbourg on Dec. 25 officered gunboat coup got around. The Friendship Association, filed ques- paper noted that there was no of- the Israeli Defense Ministry rep- by Norwegian merchant maxi- ficial comment on th the incident but resentative in Europe, Rear Ad- nets with Israeli rted crews. The lions for the prime minister in the to have National Assembly on the circum- that "people in the streets of Tel miral Mordecai Limon, persona Aviv were congratulating them- non grata. According to the French boats were repohe Straits of stances surrounding the departure through t Aviv of the gunboats. selves on having 'pulled a fast one Defense Ministry, Adm. Limon Gibraltar Saturday, headed east- The five gunboats were the last wrote a letter renouncing all Is- ward, flying no flag. on the French.' " The Jewish Telegraphic Agency of a class of 12 such vessels or- raeli claims to the gunboats after (Continued from Page 1) Israel continued Tuesday to maintain strict official silence over the affair of the five gun- boats. But measures that might be taken by France to demon- strafe its displeasure over the evasion of the embargo were said to be the subject of day-long consultations at Israel's foreign ministry, their purported shipbuilder sale to Norway. A Norwegian and an reported from Rome Sunday that dered by Israel in 1966. They were Israeli business executive con- Italian Navy sources at Palermo designed to carry the Israel-made netted with the firm that allegedly said was "an unusual missile. before Seven ber" there of Israeli naval units num- at of sea-to-sea the boats "Gabrial" were delivered purchased the five embargoed gunboats insisted in Oslo Tuesday present in the Mediterranean be- June 1967 de when former President Charles Gaulle charged Israel with aggression and imposed an that the boats were intended pure- tween Sardinia and Sicily. Italian coastal stations picked arms embargo ostensibly on all ly for civilian commercial pur- up numerous signals exchanged belligerents in the Six-Day War. poses. The remaining five boats were Martin Seim, director general between Israeli ships. The strength Political sources said Israel is of the Aker Group, Norway's of the radio signals being received held in Cherbourg as they were Polit considering the possibility that France will recall its ambassador, largest shipbuilding enterprise, ac- in Sicily, the Italian sources said, completed. The last of the class, Franci Hure. Israelis also are knowledged that he was the repre- confirmed the presence of the christened Eilat, was launched prepared for a more militantly sentative in Norway of Starboat ships in that area. only two weeks Is- Israeli naval ago. crews and tech- an stand by France both and Weill. He said Israel wanted Wire service reports quoted a ti-Israel international relations and in the five boats for offshore oil rael Embassy sources in Paris as nicians bad been living in Cher- in saying that the boats, which cost bourg for months, ready to take prospecting. bilateral relations with Israel. $1,000,000 apiece, had been sold over the boats if the French lifted The same reason was stated •The Israel Embassy in Paris has the Norwegian firm and that the embargo. But no such move requested another meeting with the by Seim's friend, Mila Brenner, to Israeli crews aboard them was made by the French govern- French Foreign Ministry, and the director of Maritime Fruit Car- the were "loaned" to the new owners. meat. government here is said to be riers, Ltd., an Israeli shipping According to reports from "Apart from that, it has nothing awaiting a report on its outcome. firm which is the main stock- more to do with us. We have got Cherbourg, the boats' departure The Israeli ambassador to France, holder in Starboat and Weill. Walter Eytan, is home on leave. The Israeli charge d'affaires in Paris, Eytan Ron, was reported rebuked Monday by Foreign Min- ister Maurice Schumann over the again last week and criticized the of the brief Israel-Arab wars. Did (Continued from Page 1) gunboat affair. Ron reportedly dis- Mr. Nixon, as the then vice presi- Thus, the Rockefellers have be- Nixon regime for changing its pol- dent, inherit an appeasement pol- avowed all knowledge of 'the gun- icy toward Israel, it may have come involved in the confusing alerted those who had begun to icy toward Israel, some now ask? boats. (Newsweek, in the current issue, Political circles in France said controversies—one brother makes fall asleep on the job in the task under the title "Jewish Lobby," offers Tuesday that the government will vague pro-Israel statements, an- of protecting Israel's right to live. this view on the issue: Not unexpected- severely discipline certain high- ly, Secretary Rogers took issue with Cardinal Cushing, in his latest Israel's use of the term "appeasement." other is quoted as having done the ranking officials who are be- suggests that the Arabs are enemies threatening to Washington. This statement, warned that a U.S. col- "It lieved to have collaborated with of the United States," he said. "Of business is yet to be cleared up. laboration in the Middle East with course, that isn't true." But as U.S. Israelis in the gunboat affair. officials knew only too well, the Arabs Russia, France and Great Britain Washington's close friends, The official most frequently Arabs gathered at Rabat made "may end in calamity for Israel" are hardly the goal of improving America's mentioned as facing punishment is lots of advance claims of unity to and again he called for "face-to- and standing with them clearly loomed Gen. Louis Bonte, who heads the destroy Israel, broke up in confu- face negotiation" between Israel large in the administration's proposals concessions by Israel. American Interministerial Commission on sion, and now Washingtonians and the Arab states as "the only for investors with oil and other interests Arms Exports. It was this com- claim that the U.S. position may be effective way to achieve a real in the Middle East have long advocated stronger ties with the Arabs, and in mission which approved the sale credited with having scared the pe ace." early December a group of business David Rockefeller, of the gunboats to a Norwegian Arabs away from unifying against Cardinal Cushing said: "Propo- leaders—including of New York's Chase Man- "front" firm, Starboat and Weill, Israel in an all-out effort. Israelis sals made In Washington within president hattan Bank—visited President Nixon to S.A. and students of Middle East poli- the past few days seem to me to warn him that U.S. influence with the was shrinking dangerously. The The commission never checked tics know better: they know that reflect a departure from a previ- s Arabs Detirte ment, too, has a hard core out the firm, which is registered Arabs would destroy each other if ous well established determination Of tate • ,Am ec fterlon. y se argued s in Panama and has close connec- it were not for the unity that on the part of the United States to who have consistently more even-handed policy. "Some feel binds them against Israel; but they insist on direct negotiation be- that the United States came out too tions to Israel. and too unquestionably on the Other less prominent officials of also know that Arabs will not tween Israel and the Arab states. often side of Israel, dissipating our influence the ministries of finance and trans- make even minutest concessions to Efforts by our government and the with the Arab governments," said one "There is also resentment at port reportedly will face charges each other if it involves giving up governments of the Soviet Union, official. the influence of what might be called of collusion with Israel. They were individual rights to oil holdings. England and France to impose the domestic Jewish lobby.") These same authorities in Wash- peace terms may end in calamity responsible for customs and port The growing feeling now is that formalities that somehow failed to ington are now puzzled and in a for Israel, which needs so desper- the oil interests are more menac- prevent the five embargoed gun- dilemma when they learn that not ately to be secure, to be free, to ing to the peace efforts than ever boats from slipping out of Cher- all of Israel's friends have van- help remake the lives of thousands before, and there is the general bourg on Christmas Day, un- ished—although for a time that driven out of Europe by harsh re- noticed by the harbormaster and looked like a real menace to Israel pression." Cardinal Cushing urged and to world Jewry. When Richard the Nixon administration "to cling without official clearance. French action with regard to Cardinal Cushing of the Boston fast to the policy rooted in the these officials and the nature of Roman Catholic Diocese spoke out realization that lasting peace in was cleared by French customs and port authorities just before Christmas. Their sailing was de- layed by rough weather. But the boats slipped out of port after dark on Christmas day. The port captain said he did not see them leave apparently because they showed no navigational lights. Their departure was not reported officially. Some diplomatic circles abroad implied that the French permitted the gunboats to be taken over by Israel, using the Norwegian firm as a "blind." They said the French wanted to dispose of the feeling that they are discriminating against Israel although they are not pre- pared to incense the Arab world by lifting the arms embargo. These sources said the French may have made the gesture to- ward Israel in order to go ahead with an alleged $400,000,000 arms sale to Libya, a deal which re- portedly includes 50 Mirage jets. The 50 Mirages that Israel bought and paid for two years ago are still under embargo. Some diplomatic sources abroad claimed that the French, taking note of the fiasco at the Rabat Arab summit conference last week, were leaving an escape hatch open to avoid complete identification with the Arab cause. There is a group of pro-Israel Gaullist depu- ties in Paris pressing for a French reconciliation with Israel. • • • • Expedience' Negates Traditional American Policies convictions that Arabists were never less numerous than friends of Israel in the State Department. George AFL-C10 President Meany's condemnation of current trends in the State Department are part of an awakening of what is transpiring. There are other matters that now trouble many people. In the first place, Israel does not have the traditional friends in Cong- ress: many so-called liberals are evidencing deaf ears to Israel's appeals. Secondly, the new trends in this country—the turn to the right, the feared rightist victories —are interpreted as pointing to another spread of anti-Semitism, with the attitude of antagonism towards Israel as a basis for such prejudice. It is in this area that the misguided Jewish New Leftists fall prey to false propaganda and, instead of being the great liberals their people's traditions teach them, are tools in a scheme that leads to anti-Semitism. Much of the troubles are trace- able to the motives that stem from expedience. We now learn anew from historic experience. —P.S. Young Texans Sing to Israelis Temple Mount a Historic Relic 4- ••••%. J. This is the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The lower stones date from the time of King Herod and were there during the life of Jesus. The Wailing Wall, also consisting of stones from Herod's time, is a continuation of the corner (left). Dome (right) is the El Aksa Mosque. 40 Friday, Jaavary 2, 1970 — the Middle East is achievable only by face-to-face negotiation be- tween the Arab states and Israel." What has happened here is that Secretary of State William P. Rog- ers has denied there is appease- ment of the Arabs, that the new U. S. proposals which, in effect. would cause Israel to lose all of the occupied territories in ex- change for what many interpret as a questionable Arab commit- ment for a binding peace. was "entirely consistent" and "fair," in interpreting the UN resolution of Nov. 22, 1967. which supposedly provided in the new American view the "framework" for a peace formula. But none of the apologetics coin- cide with the position that was taken by President Lyndon B. Johnson when, on June 19, 1967, he declared that "the parties to the conflict must be the parties to the peace." Now many ask whether Presi- dent Nixon may not have acquired some of the thinking of the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower who, in 1957, forced a total Israeli evacuation from the Sinai territory THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS that was acquired in the second The "Rebellaires," a teen-age American singing group from Fort Worth, departed for a concert tour of Israel and presented keys of Fort Worth to various Israeli mayors. The 15 high school students are meeting with Israeli youths. They sang in Bethlehem on Christ- mas Eve, continuing to Nazareth and Jerusalem before returning home. The trip to Israel was aboard one of Air France's "Welcome to Israel" flights. With the help of the Fort Worth community, the "Rebellaires" managed to raise close to S10,000 in eight weeks for their holiday tour.