Atom Panel Blocks Israel Boycott

Faced with the threat of a U.S. pullout, delegates to an International Atomic Energy Agency conference today rejected a proposal to boycott Israel for its 1981 attack on an Iraqi nuclear plant.

Iraq and 12 other mainly Arab nations introduced the resolution earlier this week urging the agency to withhold contracts to Israel, stop purchasing Israeli equipment and end seminars in that country. The final vote was 41 to 30 with 19 abstentions. Forty-eight votes were required for passage.