THE

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, January 30, 1970-13

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MY 1 7(1-7/-50,1717:-73%,.
.7 7 477,P,

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Israel Probes
Explosion of
Ammo Truck

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Chief of
Staff Chaim Bar Lev has named a
special investigating committee to
inquire into Saturday's ammuni-
tion truck explosion at Eilat har-
bor which killed 20 Israeli soldiers
and civilians and wounded 42,
about half of them seriously. Army
authorities announced that the
blast "without any doubt occurred
as a result of an accident."
The announcement, contained in
special bulletin issued shortly
after midnight, was obviously in-
tended to refute claims by El
Fatah, the Palestinian guerrilla
organization, that it was respon-
sible.
The explosion, the most costly
to Israeli history, occurred at
4:30 p.m. local time as a truck
filled with arms and ammunition
Was being unloaded at the mili-
tary harbor, about a half mile
north of Eilat's commercial port
area.
The blast immediately killed 18.
Two of the wounded succumbed
Monday as funeral services were
held for the other dead in a half
dozen cities, towns and settle-
ments all over the country.
It is generally believed now that
the explosion was touched off by
an active mine, part of the truck-
load.
The mines were brought to Eilat
reportedly after being planted on
the Egyptian island of Shadwan in
the Gulf of Suez by Israeli para-
troopers who occupied the island
for 32 hours last week.
It was not clear why the Israelis
removed the mines once they had
been laid, as Egyptian forces pre-
sumably will return to Shadwan.
The Israelis also removed tons of
Egyptian military hardware and
ammunition and an entire Decca
radar unit.
According to unofficial reports,
six tons of mines were returned to
Eilat , and were de-activated while
in transit. But due to an error or
oversight, one of them was "live"
when it was being discharged as
part of a truckload on the Eilat
dock. A jar to the truck touched it
off, causing the truck to blow up,
it was said.
Eye-witness accounts said that
army and civilian medics were
on the scene within minutes of the
explosion removing the dead and
wounded. The most seriously in-
jured were evacuated by helicop-
ter to hospitals in the north.
Others were treated in the local
hospital where hundreds of Eilat
residents lined up to donate blood.
The military harbor was cordoned
off as Israeli sappers searched for
unexploded shells and mines scat-
tered in the area.
As some of the wounded men
were brought into Tel Hashomer
Hospital near Tel Aviv, Israel's
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan
was on hand to greet them and
hear their accounts of the disaster.
The Knesset canceled its 21st
anniversary celebrations due to
have taken place Sunday night as
the nation mourned the Eilat dead.
Military authorities released the
names of the dead. They are: Pvt.
First Class Falek Yoram, 19, of
Merhavia; Nain Bzadya, 24, of
Kiryat Atta; Deutch Lev, 55, of
Haifa; Capt. Jacob Barak, 33, of
Eilat; Sgt. Maj. Harari Yehouda,
33, of Eilat; Sgt. Maj. Yaacob Is-
rael, 25, of Eilat; Cpl. Zeev Bo-
gatch, 23, of Holon; Cpl. Baruc
Samoka, and Cpl. Yaacov Cohen,
both of Acre; Cpl. Sasson Nazaioff,
20, of Jerusalem; Capt. Shaul Na-
gar, 32, of Petach Tikvah; Mena-
chem Menashe, 48, of Haifa; Cpl.
Simhah Brenner, 19, of Shderot;
Sgt. Maj. Yeshayahu Miller, 25, of
Mishmar Hashiva; Pvt. Yoram
Alfl, 20, of Tel Aviv; Pvt. Shmuel
Posner, 39, of Holon; and Sgt. Maj.
Moshe Maayan, 22, of Holon.

-7,77

. . . . .....

YOUR
INVITATION TO
the first in a series of

PARTICIPANTS

DR. BRUNO BETTELHEIM

is the Stella M. Rowley Distinguished Service Professor of Educa-
tion, and also Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the Uni-
versity of Chicago. He is Director of the Orthogenic School, the
University's residential treatment center for severely emotionally

disturbed children.

Among Dr. Bettelheim's most recent books is CHILDREN OF THE
DREAM (1969) which discusses communal child rearing in the
Israeli kibbutzim and its implications for American Education.

MENACHEM ROSENER

is a visiting scholar from Israel presently at the Institute for
Social Research at the University of Michigan and Director of
the Social Research Center on the Kibbutz..

TOPIC:

ens

"KIBBUTZ:

MODERATOR

Dream and Reality"

Dr. William Wattenberg is Acting Chairman of the Educational
Psychology Department at Wayne State University. Dr. Waffen-
berg has authored many books and articles on human behavior.

cF

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Refreshments following discussion—Contribution: $1.50 per person

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