The Government press office has withdrawn the accreditations of Columbia Broadcasting System correspondent Anthony Hatch on grounds that he violated censorship and’ military security. Mr. Hatch telephoned a report to CBS on yesterday’s Israeli tank and air raid on Egypt two hours before the attack was officially announced. As a result of Mr. Hatch’s dispatch, world news media carried stories of an alleged Israeli “invasion” of Egypt and indicated that a new Middle East war had broken out.
The press office statement today said, “In view of Mr. Hatch’s most serious contravention of censorship regulations and his offense against military security, his accreditations as a foreign correspondent has been withdrawn by the director of the Government press office.”
(A CBS spokesman in New York said today that Mr. Hatch “felt the raid and full details were common knowledge among the general public in Jerusalem at the time he filed the story” and “felt that he was not violating the pro forma embargo.” The spokesman said that CBS understood that correspondents in Israel were often told of military moves ahead of time and asked to hold the news until the Government releases it.)
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