The Tel Aviv District Court today lifted its ban on local publication of the story of a planned terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy here about a month ago that was foiled by Israeli security forces.
The story of how the plot was uncovered, the Embassy warned and five Arab youths from the Gaza Strip arrested as suspects, appeared in much of the world’s news media. Only the Israeli public was kept in the dark and had to guessas to why a new wall was erected around the Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Today, Israeli newspapers published pictures of the wall which thousands of passers-by had seen. The afternoon daily Maariv published the original story after it was passed by the military censors but before the court ban was actually lifted. Other newspapers appealed to the Supreme Court for the right to publish but removal of the ban made their appeal moot.
PLOTTERS WERE UNSOPHISTICATED YOUTHS
The Washington Post last Thursday quoted an interview with Police Minister Haim Barlev who stressed that the planned attack was hardly of the magnitude of the two attacks that destroyed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut or another that severely damaged the Embassy in Kuwait.
According to Barlev the plotters were unsophisticated youths who had possession of a hand grenade and were looking for a target. “Among the things they mentioned was the U.S. Embassy ” but ” by no means was this a planned operation aimed at your Embassy,” Barlev was quoted as telling the Post.
He said the would-be attackers had also considered “schools and buses” as targets. He said they were arrested about three weeks ago in the Tel Aviv area where thousands of Gaza Strip Arabs commute daily to jobs.
Barlev confirmed that the U.S. officials here were not immediately notified of the plot and arrests “There was no reason to alarm them,” he said. State Department spokesman John Hughes said last week that “we received the information in a timely fashion” but he would not say just when the Embassy was informed.
Asked why the Israeli public was being kept in the dark, Barlev was quoted as saying “This was not a (police) action that prevented a big catastrophe, so there was no reason to make a big fuss about it.” But most Israeli newspapers may not share that view inasmuch as they were forced to keep silent while media reports from the U.S. and elsewhere trickled through to Israel.
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