
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 22, 1990                   TAG: 9006220193
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: By The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FIRST ISRAELI ENVOY TO U.S., ELIAHU ELATH, DIES

Eliahu Elath, a journalist who championed the Zionist cause, helped found the state of Israel and became its first ambassador to Washington in 1948, died Thursday in Jerusalem.

He was 86. The cause of death was not announced.

After serving in Washington, Elath became Israel's ambassador to Britain and played a prominent role in the diplomatic moves surrounding the 1956 Suez invasion by Britain, France and Israel.

Born Eliahu Epstein in the Ukraine in 1903, he was the son of an engineer.

by CNB