Announcement by the Baghdad regime of the arrest of 12 men and women – two of them Jews – allegedly for espionage for Israel and their imminent trial before a revolutionary court, spurred an Israeli cabinet member today to call on Israel and Jews throughout the world for prompt action to bring about the evacuation of all the Jews remaining in Iraq and their establishment in a safe haven.
Menachem Beigin, leader of the Herut party and Minister-Without-Portfolio in the coalition government, said today two more Iraqi Jews “are in the shadow of the gallows in Baghdad” and “it is our duty to act in time to save our innocent brethren who are threatened with juridical murder.” Nine Iraqi Jews were publicly hanged in Baghdad and Basra last year on charges of spying for Israel. Mr. Beigin said that “past experience raises the hope that if we employ all the moral force at our disposal to awaken enlightened public opinion, we shall be able to save the victims of the Iraqi plot.”
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