The Israeli Embassy was the center of a 12-hour radiation scare last Friday as scientists, firemen and police combed the building to see if it was the source of a leak which caused the evacuation of a nearby fire station. It ended Friday afternoon when a London fire brigade spokesman announced that no source of radiation had been discovered in the building. Significantly, the National Radiation Protection Board which monitors serious incidents, was not called in.
Throughout the day, however, the Embassy was pestered by journalists convinced that this may be a replay of the bizarre mystery of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow which has been bombarded with microwaves for the last 10 years.
Despite the ending of the scare, the mystery has still not been solved. The radiation level in the fire station-at the rear of the consular section of the Embassy-is going to be kept under observation, and some firemen will have medical checks. At on point it was thought that the leak might emanate from the x-ray machine with which the Israelis screen their mail for letter bombs. But that was ruled out. (By Maurice Samuelson)
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.
