The Vatican newspaper has denounced a decision by the Israeli army to deny emergency help to disaster victims in Sri Lanka.

Actually the government of Sri Lanka had declined an Israeli offer of help, because the relief team would have been a military unit. Sri Lanka had asked Israel for medical help only, without accompanying military personnel. Israel refused to send only the medical teams.

Calling for "a radical and dramatic change of perspective" among people "too often preoccupied with making war," L'Osservatore Romano singled out Israeli leaders for declining that request for emergency medical help. The Vatican paper observed that in what "should be a time for unconditional solidarity," some world leaders seem incapable of escaping a "small—minded approach that restricts their horizons."

Ethel Fenig   12 29 04