Two Israeli sports officials left hurriedly for Moscow today to try to forestall moves that could lead to the ouster of Israel from the European competitions in favor of the Palestinians.
Chaim Karpowski, of the Israeli Sport Federation’s Volleyball committee, and Moshe Rash, of the Federation’s Executive, were dispatched to the Soviet capital where the 1980 Olympics are being held after a cable was received here warning that the International Volleyball Federation would discuss proposals to drop Israel from membership and coopt the Palestinian sport group, Falastin.
The Israelis are expected to spend five days in Moscow. The expulsion of Israel from the Volleyball Federation could be the first step in a move to bar Israel from competing in all events in which the European sports group participates. Israel was admitted to the European group after being ousted from the Asian group by the combined pressure of the Arab states and the Communist bloc and Third World countries.
The Israeli delegates will also try to prevent the entry of Falastin into the European sports group. It has already been coopted into the table tennis, basketball, weight-lifting and wrestling federations and is expected to be accepted shortly by the handball federation. Sports officials here regard this situation as critical to Israel’s future in international sports.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
