Conrad’s Cartoon on Israeli Spies

Haven’t you been overdoing the Israeli spy case a bit? While spying on a friendly nation is never to be condoned, the Israelis, after all, were not in quest of any material that might be damaging to the U.S. like the Americans who sold vital secrets to the Soviets. They only sought information for the protection of their state such as, by your own reporting, the war potential of the enemies on their borders, of whom there are many--and with powerful allies. The Russians even threatened to join in the conflict in the Yom Kippur War until President Nixon, to his credit, stopped them cold.

Conrad may protest that his Sunday cartoon, “The spies who came into the fold,” was not intended to be anti-Semitic, but it nevertheless was inevitably destined to inflame and foster prejudice.

On a recent day, a Muslim faction invaded a Palestinian camp in Lebanon and conducted a wholesale massacre. The story was buried in a brief paragraph on page 2 of The Times. Had Israelis been anywhere near the vicinity at the time, I’m confident it would have been blown up into a front-page story.

I’m sorry to say that, with your overblown reports, you have done a disservice to your fellow Americans of the Jewish faith by fueling the fires of prejudice.

JULES LEVINE

Los Angeles