The administrative director of an American firm building a new Israeli air base in the Negev which is to replace one in Sinai under the peace agreement with Egypt has been dismissed and sent home after he made anti-Semitic remarks, it was reported today by Israel Radio.
According to the report, Don Bast, administrative director of the U.S. firm, Air Base Contractors (ABC), allegedly said during a quarrel with the wife of an American Jewish engineer that “Hitler should have finished the job he started” as well as other anti-Semitic and derogatory remarks against Israel. Both the wife and her husband, whose names were not disclosed, complained to a senior official of the Defense Ministry. Upon hearing the complaint, the Defense Ministry official dismissed Bast and ordered him to return to the U.S.
Officials of the ABC have protested the dismissal, claiming that the facts of the case were not as described by the Jewish engineer and that the charge of anti-Semitism is groundless. Bast left Israel last Thursday.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
