Several score relatives of missing soldiers caused an uproar and broke windows in the Knesset precincts today in a heart-rending demonstration over the plight of their loved ones. They demanded to see Premier Golda Meir or Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, and since neither were available, turned half crazed with grief and anxiety and started heaving rocks and surging through the Knesset gates and up to the building itself. The Knesset guards corps refrained from using force although mightily provoked–because they seemed to sense the deep and tragic grief of the demonstrators. The Knesset was to have held–at opposition instigation–a debate today on the POWs and the MIAs. But it was deferred at the last moment when the opposition Knesseters were persuaded that it would not be useful at this time. One demonstrator was injured by broken glass. Ambulances and police stationed nearby were not needed.
A delegation of the demonstrators met with six Knesset members of various factions at noon and complained of harsh and heartless treatment at the hands of army bureaucrats charged with dealing with them. It seemed nobody cared about or understood their feelings, they said. They felt they were being given a run-around, from office to army camp to another office in search of evidence or details about their missing loved ones. Another delegation met with Knesset Speaker Yisrael Yeshayahu who promised that within 36 hours they would have a meeting with Mrs. Meir or Dayan. It was
learned meanwhile that Israel has rejected a request of the Egyptians to evacuate several sick Egyptians from the town of Suez because the Egyptians are preventing the search for Israeli soldiers that were killed in the war and may be in the area held by the Egyptians.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
