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Israel denies trying to steal camera data from U.S. firm by Joseph Polakoff TSI’s Washington correspondent WASHINGTON—Charges by Recon Optical, Inc., of Barring ton, Ill., that Israeli agents tried to steal plans for a sophisticated air borne spy camera system were char acterized Aug. 19 at the Israeli Embassy as a fabrication in a con tract dispute under litigation in a federal court in New York. The U.S. Customs Service said it was “investigating” Recon’s charges while the Department of Justice said it was “monitoring” them. U.S. officials were reported as say ing they had no evidence of Israeli violation of federal law. The charges art- the latest to emerge against Israel in the wake of the 10-month-old Pollard es pionage case that is believed to have given rise to an atmosphere of suspicion which encourages delib erate efforts by some elements to besmirch U.S.-Israeli relations. Recon was constructing the recon naissance system for the Israeli government under a $40 million contract financed by the Defense Department under its foreign mil itary aid program. By using the system, a plane flying near the speed of sound can photograph a person more than 100 miles away. Israelis were allowed to have an office in the Recon plant to moni tor progress on the system since work began in 1984, because con struction was under Israeli specifi cations. Last May, Recon ordered them to leave the plant because it was terminating the contract. On May 27, according to press reports, Recon security agents stopped three Israeli Air Force officers leaving the plant and confiscated 50,000 pages of technical drawings and notes written in Hebrew. The State Department, while re ferring comment on the case to the Justice Department, had approved export of the system to Israel. According to a civil suit, Recon claims that the technology used to produce the system was to remain its property. It said Israel planned to acquire the technology to enable an Israeli firm to manufacture the system. Israeli sources described the ac cusations as “utter nonsense.” They said Israel is entitled to the tech nology as part of the contract. Part of the dispute was said to involve cancellation of a letter of credit and a rise in the cost of the system to $100 million. Officials agree to review case against ‘Web of Deceit’ author by Ron Csillag MONCTON, New Brunswick, (JTA)—In a dramatic turnaround last week, New Brunswick Attor ney General David Clark announced he would review his decision not to prosecute school teacher Malcolm Ross of Moncton for allegedly promoting hatred against Jews be cause a book by Ross that was said to be unavailable was found on local library shelves. The previous week, Clark an nounced New Brunswick would not institute charges against Ross, based on the results of a 13-month police investigation. Clark ruled that Ross could not be charged with wilfully promot ing hatred against Jews under sec tion 281.2 (2) of the Criminal Code because two of his books did not fall under the definition of hate literature, while the third, “Web of Deceit,” probably did, but was “unavailable to the public,” having been out of print for five years. Only a few days after the an nouncement, several journalists in New Brunswick were able to get copies of “Web of Deceit” from local libraries, forcing red-faced justice officials to reconsider their decision. The 106-page book, it seems, was easily available from libraries in Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John and the University of New Brunswick. One journalist employed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) said it was “easy” to get the book, which was located in regular library stacks and not within refer ence material, making it available for general check-out. Dr. Mary Travis, regional librar ian at Saint John Regional Library, said the book’s popularity has in creased in the past few months. In one library, she noted, the book has been checked out just five times in eight years and not at all since 1982. Now, however, “you can rest assured” the book has become pop ular. Travis added there are no plans to pull the book from the shelves. Clark was unavailable for com ment on the several days his office was contacted. A department offi cial had no comment on the matter. Dr. Julius Israeli, who filed the original complaint against Ross last summer, was exuberant at the decision to reconsider. “It’s a gift from heaven," he said. “I feel great.” Israeli had not heard officially from the justice department, but he said h'e’s aware the sudden turn around doesn’t necessarily mean Ross will be charged. “It could take several more weeks” of investigation, Is raeli said, and the same decision could be arrived at again. Clark told a New Brunswick newspaper immediately after his ruling that his first decision, not to prosecute, was “the most difficult” he has had to make as justice min ister and attorney general. He said the long-term solution to problems of this nature lies in public aware ness and education and not in the criminal justice system. Although “Web of Deceit,” writ ten in 1978, is widely available in New Brunswick, it is not stored in the Metro Toronto Library, Can ada’s largest municipal library. But the book is available to almost anyone via an inter-library loan from the National Library of Can ada, according to spokesperson Ruth Lawless. She said in an interview that Canadian law requires every pub lisher in the country, regardless of repute, to forward one or two copies of every book published to the national library in Ottawa, Canada’s flagship collection of books. Lawless said “Web of Deceit” is classified under three headings: civ ilization, modern 20th century and Canada/civilization. She said Ross’ book is stocked because the library doesn’t make “value judgments” on books’ contents. In addition to authoring the books, Ross runs the Stronghold Publishing Company, which prints and distributes them. He teaches all subjects in grades seven, eight and nine at a school outside Monc ton, but an investigation by the Canadian Jewish News last year found no evidence he taught his views in the classroom. Jewish community officials were surprised at Claik’s decision to reconsider. Shimon Fogel, execu tive director of the Atlantic Jewish Council, said the move shows Clark is “taking this seriously and is con sistent with his conscientiousness. But I’d be somewhat surprised if he decided to lay charges just on the merit of it (“Web of Deceit”) hav ing been found in the library.” Professor Bernie Vigod, regional chairman of B’nai B’rith Canada’s League for Human Rights, said there is a “tremendous risk” of Ross being acquitted if a charge is instituted, “That would set back the course of things quite a bit.” d0’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Regional Italian Cuisine carefully pre- d lijrMN pared under the watchful eye of owner and h° st Perry. Hours: £ 1989 Cheshire Bridge 5-11 M-Th 1 5-11* F Si Sat. Hi? 876-1380 1—-1 c?Ift^Moods . Custom Framing Prints • Poster Art 1 ^ Joan Schwartz, owner Toco Hill Shopping Center ; 636-7877 Next to Kroger’s IIMB Congregation Beth Shaiom A Conservative Synagogue Serving North Atlanta Leonard H. Lifshen, Rabbi invites you to our Open House Back-to-School at AJCC/Zaban Wed., Sept. 6, 1986 7:30 p.m. Meet Alan Gorlin, Educational Director, and our excellent staff. Discuss our educational programs and see curriculum and text books. Come catefc out neu/ spM... For further information, call synagogue office, 458-0489, or Cheryl Bogrow, 923-4567. The Congregation and Rabbi Shalom Lewis look forward to greeting you at our MEMBERSHIP SHABBAT Saturday, September 6 9:30 a.m. Kiddush luncheon following services Junior Membership Available Congregation €tz Choim 1190 Indian Hills Parkway Marietta, Georgia 30067 For further information and directions, call 973-0137 Free babysitting provided PAGE 3 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE August 22, 1986