Gur Says Similar Tragedy May Reoccur As Long As Mideast Conflict Continues

Major General Mordechai Gur, military attache at the Israel Embassy in Washington, told some 600 persons attending the Jewish National Fund Foundation Assembly here last night that “a repetition of an incident similar to the Libyan plane tragedy may reoccur as long as the Middle East conflict continues.” He outlined the series of “errors and unpredictable” that led to the disaster that took the lives of 106 passengers.

Gur enumerated the events as “pilot error in straying so far off course, the inexplicable failure of the Cairo air tower to guide the pilot, the flight over a heavily fortified area, the fact that the plane was only six minutes from Eilat, the fact that the plane might be a kamikaze operation to drop explosives over an Israeli city, the refusal of the pilot to follow instructions, and the inability of the Israeli pilots to detect any signs of passengers aboard the airliner since all the shades were drawn.”

The Israeli military attache added that the tragedy took place against the backdrop of terrorist warnings that further atrocities would be launched against Israel and six terrorists’ attempts in recent weeks against Jews in Europe. The later attempts, he noted, were foiled. In view of this, Gur stated, Israel could not afford to take risks that might involve the destruction of large numbers of Israeli citizens.

The 600 attendees also heard addresses by JNF President Meyer Pesin, JNF World Council President Herman L. Weisman and JNF Executive Vice-President Abram Salomon. It was announced that the JNF Foundation Assembly has recorded a potential of $31 million in bequests and annuities to be utilized for the JNF programs of land development, afforestation and road building in Israel. This was the first Foundation Assembly in the JNF’s 72-year history.