Olympic Body Hit for Rejecting Israel Appeal on Spain’s Games Bar

The International Olympic Committee was remiss in its duty when it refused to consider, on technical grounds, Israel’s appeal against Spain’s barring Israel from the Mediterranean Regional Olympic Games held at Barcelona last month, Col. Harry D. Henshel, a member of the United States Olympic Committee, chairman of the New York Olympic Committee and head of the American Committee for Sports in Israel, charged here last night at a press conference.

Col. Henshel made public at the press conference a lengthy letter he had addressed to Mr. Brundage, asking 35 specific questions designed to point up the fact that the international committee had failed to live up to its obligations as expressed in the IOC statement of “Fundamental Principles,” in statements by Mr. Brundage and by Baron de Coubertin, who revived the Olympic Games in modern times. Mr. Brundage has thus far failed to reply to the Henshel letter, which was addressed to him a week ago.

Col. Henshel’s questions included several which asked Mr. Brundage to explain his apparent change of heart in the matter. Mr. Henshel noted that before the IOC met and rejected the Israel appeal, Mr. Brundage had told mutual friends that he intended to support Israel’s position. He also charged that Mr. Brundage had “quibbled” when he wired Col. Henshel that the “IOC did not reject (the) Israel appeal,” when its denial of the claim, on grounds of lack of jurisdiction, left Israel with no appeal body to turn to.