Israel has offered military help and diplomatic recognition to the new Provincial Government in East Pakistan. Despite its plight, the independence movement now fighting for its life against the Pakistan armed forces has turned it down [Jerusalem, April 19]. Contacts between Israeli officials and representatives of the “Democratic Republic of Bangla Desh” were made on an informal and indirect basis. A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry source told an A.N.S. correspondent in Jerusalem yesterday that overt support and recognition would be “the kiss of death” for Muslim East Bengal. Jerusalem would avoid any move likely to embarrass the Bangla Desh leadership and the whole question of aid and recognition had been handled with great care in order to avoid damaging the interests of the Bangla Desh movement. But he confirmed that any formal request by Bangla Desh for Israeli recognistion “would be considered sympathetically.”
