Three non-confidence motions against the Government’s handling of the problem of West German scientists working on weapons for Egypt were defeated in Israel’s Parliament last night.
The motions had been introduced separately by the rightist Herut, the left-wing Mapam and the Communist party. All three motions charged the Government with inadequate efforts to induce West Germany to bring German scientists and technicians home from Egypt.
Deputy Premier Abba Eban replied for the Government. He termed “incorrect” a charge by Herut that Premier Levi Eshkol’s Government had not asked the United States to intervene on the issue. Herut had cited a report to that effect in an Israeli newspaper attributed to Myer Feldman, President Johnson’s adviser on Jewish and Israeli Affairs. Mr. Feld-man denied last week that he had made such a statement.
Mr. Eban cited a statement by the late President Kennedy concerning the work of the German scientists and stressed the Government’s continued alertness and preoccupation with the problem in all friendly capitals. He rejected as “completely unfounded” Communist charges that Israel and German scientists were cooperating in nuclear research. He called all three motions”unwarranted,” asserting that Israel’s policy of unyielding opposition to the work of the scientists and its insistence to West Germany on recall of the scientists–as stated in the Knesset debate last month–remained unchanged.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
