Israel today ordered its nationally-owned airline, El Al, to resume flights to and from London. The order, rescinding previous instructions suspending London flights by El Al, followed the cancellation of a request by the British Government which had demanded that El Al fly the convicted espionage agent, Dr. Robert A. Soblen, to the United States. An El Al spokesman here said today: “We are no longer a party to the Soblen affair and are not unhappy about the situation.”
(In New York, A. M. Sonnabend, president of the American Jewish Committee, issued a statement today saying: “The American Jewish Committee believes that the cause of justice would best be served by the prompt return of Dr. Robert Soblen to the United States. We therefore support our State Department’s efforts to facilitate his return and commend the efforts that have been made by American Jewish leaders in asking the Israeli Government to take steps which would complete Dr. Soblen’s journey to the United States.”)
Israel’s part and actions in the Soblen affair were reviewed here today by a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. “The procedures now initiated in Britain,” the statement declared, “indicates the correctness of the assumption by the Israel Government that a solution could be found without any of the parties being required to act against its own laws.”
Recalling that Dr. Soblen came to Israel on June 26 with false papers, that he was immediately detained, and expelled on July 1, the statement stressed the Government’s position which held that a fugitive from justice, properly tried and convicted by American courts, could not benefit from Israel’s Law of Return. The statement pointed out that that position had been voiced explicitly by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and endorsed by a majority of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament.
With the expulsion of Dr. Soblen, the statement noted, “Israel’s part in this case was terminated. He was no longer under Israel’s jurisdiction, and thus there was no basis for involving Israel or El Al in any further steps regarding Soblen. Any participation by the Israel Government or by an Israeli aircraft or vessel in the removal or deportation of Soblen from Britain to the United States would have been contrary to Israeli law. Therefore the Israel Government could not take such action.”
The statement emphasized that “at no stage was the Israel Government asked by the United States to take action not in conformity with Israel’s law.”
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