Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, today castigated “mercenaries and adventurers in the Congo who sell their honor and carry arms for gain.” She spoke at a meeting of African envoys, called to dispel rumors that Israelis were serving as mercenaries in the Congo.
Mrs. Meir expressed “revulsion” over such mercenary activities, and said that Israeli aid programs in the Congo construction, farm and administrative training, started during Premier Adoula’s administration, were being continued.
The rumors were sparked by the death of Joseph Eshet, 29, a former Israeli airman, who was killed last Friday in the crash of a Belgian plane carrying munitions. The airman was reported to have been an employee of Sabena, the Belgian airline which assigned him to its subsidiary, Air Congo. He had been denounced as a “soldier of fortune.”
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