A storm of protest descended on Foreign Minister Abba Eban today as a result of his remark on the David Frost television show in New York on Monday that he personally did not consider it important whether Nazi war criminals still at large were captured and brought to trial. Eban’s words were no sooner broadcast on Kol Israel radio here last night when the switchboards began to light up with calls from listeners expressing anger and chagrin over the opinion expressed by Israel’s top ranking diplomat. The most bitter reaction came from spokesmen of organizations of anti-Nazi resistance fighters, ghetto fighters and concentration camp survivors. Eban, arriving today at Lydda Airport, told newsmen it was “evil” the way his TV statement was broadcast in Israel.
He denied saying that he did not favor the continuation of trials of Nazi war criminals. “What I did say was that facing the immense tragedy of the holocaust I cannot think of revenge or indemnification by trials of miserable criminals,” Eban said. He stressed that he supports the trials of war criminals, supports legislation against Nazis and could only encourage those governments that try Nazi criminals. But the magnitude of the holocaust cannot be gauged by the trial of some criminals, he added. Eban said on the Frost show, taped a week before it was broadcast, that he did
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.
