American Jewish leaders urged India today to reverse a reported decision to permit Palestinian Arab terrorist groups to establish a mission on Indian soil. Rabbi Herschel Schacter, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said that such a policy by India would “strengthen the Arab campaign for the destruction of Israel.”
Rabbi Schacter said in a letter to Dinesh Singh, India’s Foreign Minister and chairman of its delegation to the United Nations, that India’s tolerant attitude toward Arab terrorists was inconsistent with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s frequent assertions that “her government acknowledged Israel’s right to exist and was not hostile to it.” He urged Mr. Singh to give “fresh consideration” to India’s attitude toward Israel.
The presence in India last month of an El Fatah fund-raising and propaganda mission aroused the anger of Hindu leaders, particularly since it coincided with a rebuff to India’s attempt to participate in the Moslem summit conference in Rabat, Morocco. Some opposition leaders as well as members of Mrs. Gandhi’s own party urged that India extend diplomatic recognition to Israel as a response to the Rabat “insult.”
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