Eban Urges More U.S. Aid; Scores New Left and Media Presentation of Terrorists

In a wide-ranging address today to the Synagogue Council of America. Israel’s Foreign Minister Abba Eban condemned the New Left, criticized media representation of Arab terrorists and again chastised those pro-Israelis who see the death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser as a setback to peace. Mr. Eban, the principal speaker at the Council’s Emergency Religious Leadership Convocation on the Middle East, said he could not understand why a “reactionary” faction should be called the “New Left,” and asserted that its “anti-Zionism” was merely a facade for anti-Semitism. The Israeli diplomat said media reportage of Arab terrorist activities tended to “romanticize the violence for its own sake.” He said that calling those Arabs “commandos,” which he defined as fighters against governmental armies, glossed over the Palestinians’ policy of “murder without any idealistic motive.” Referring to widespread expressions of sorrow over the death of President Nasser, Mr. Eban asserted that “It is not a great disaster if after 18 years there is a chance for a new look.” He said Egypt and the world would profit from new Arab leadership that substituted achievements for “flamboyance” and “charisma.” Describing Acting President Anwar Sadat as far less charismatic than Col. Nasser, Mr. Eban said “the present hour is an hour of opportunity” for Egypt to “appraise its past and fashion its future” in terms of “a more realistic view of its destiny.” Mr. Eban scored Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories prior to a peace settlement as “irrational,” and again urged the United States to aid Israel with jets.