Israelis were disappointed and angered today over the hasty departure of their table tennis team from the world championship tournament in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The Israeli team returned home on the insistence of Yugoslavian authorities who said they could not guarantee their protection against possible terrorist attacks.
The Israeli players landed here at dawn after being flown from Sarajevo to Athens where they were picked up by an El Al flight from Bucharest diverted to Athens for the purpose. They said they were told by Yugoslavian authorities that five unidentified Arabs had been detained as they were about to board a plane at Zagreb for Sarajevo. They said the Yugoslavians advised them strongly to leave in order to prevent another “Munich” in Sarajevo. The reference was to the slaying of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes by Arab terrorists at the Munich Olympic Games last Sept. 5.
The Yugoslavians were apparently worried over terrorist retaliation for Israel’s commando raids on Beirut, Lebanon Tuesday in which three top El Fatah leaders were killed. Zeev Braver-man, the captain of the Israeli team, said they were told by their hosts to quit “if you want to remain alive.” He said that since the Yugoslavians were displaying what amounted to “hysteria” and “panic,” the team decided to leave as it was obvious they could not depend upon the host nation for protection. “It’s good to be home, but what a disappointment to quit the tournament,” said Tzvi Zacharias, one of the players.
Israeli sources expressed anger over the behavior of the Yugoslavs. Instead of eliminating the danger from the scene they decided to eliminate the would-be target, one source said.
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.
