Argentina felt that Israel's exercise of authority upon Argentine territory was an infringement on its sovereignty. Israel defended itself by claiming that Eichmann left Argentina voluntarily, and the Israeli Government claimed that the group that removed Eichmann was working under its own direction and not that of the Israeli Government. Israel even went so far as to issue a letter expressing their regrets for the actions taken by the free acting group: If the volunteer group violated Argentine law or interfered with matters within the sovereignty of Argentina, the Government of Israel wishes to express its regrets.11 Argentina's rejoined that even if Eichmann left Argentina on his own free will that Israel should be responsible for the actions of the private persons who were Israeli citizens. One simple point to be made here in reply to Argentina's argument is that only some of the persons involved with the Eichmann removal were Israeli citizens. There is a small possibility that the persons who were Israeli citizens were only mere accessories to the act, guilty of only marginal involvement. Furthermore, the responsibility of states in connection with the acts of private persons is predicated upon territorial jurisdiction and not the bond of nationality. (Svarlien 136) Israel has no jurisdiction within Argentina and thus has no power over the actions of its citizens within Argentina's borders. The sole power of jurisdiction in this matter lays in the hands of Argentina, and since the claim that Eichmann left voluntarily has neither been shown to be false or expressly denied it appears that no real Argentine law has been violated. Argentina went on further to argue that Israel's note expressing their regret in the matter of Eichmann's removal can be viewed as an apology, which constitutes an admission of guilt. The phrasing of the note of regret sent by Israel is embedded clearly with ...
