A sudden power failure Friday night plunged most of Israel into darkness for nearly four hours causing traffic Jams on highways where signal lights were put out of action. The failure was attributed to a breakdown at the Tel Aviv central power station, one of the country’s main electric generating plants. The blackout extended from Safad in the north to Eilat in the south. An overload knocked out power stations In Haifa, Jerusalem, Ashdod and Beersheba, Rumors of Arab sabotage spread but were dispelled for those Israelis who switched on transistor radios. Orthodox communities were plunged into near panic as religious Jews refused to light candles on the Sabbath. Hospitals and larger hotels with their own power plants out in emergency generators.
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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.
