By Punsara Amarasinghe –

Many in Sri Lanka believe Lalith Athulathmudali was the President that Sri Lanka never had. His untimely death at the hands of an unknown assassin on the 22nd of April in 1993 shattered the hopes of those who dearly loved him. He had a knack for diplomacy and strategic statecraft that few other contemporary politicians possessed in the turbulent 80s. This talent reflected his august heritage from Oxford. Athulathmudali was one of the most colorful presidents of its debating society.

The rapport he cultivated during his Oxford days and beyond, with the international community, distinguished him from others in Sri Lanka’s parochial political space, and it equally attracted envy from many of his political foes. When things fell apart with President R Premadasa after the doomed impeachment attempt in 1992, Athulathmudali was condemned to be an Israeli agent, referring to his long-term connections with Israelis. After the impeachment attempt, Premadasa returned to the parliament triumphantly, labelling Lalith Athulathmudali, one of the key architects of the impeachment, as a Mossad agent who earned money from Jews. The remark itself was emblematic of President Premadasa’s deep-rooted anti- Semitism and his paranoia about the presence of Israeli agents in Sri Lanka to topple his regime. It can be contended that elements of such fear erupted after he appointed the famous Mossad commission under Justice Wadugodapitya to investigate the alleged Israeli elements described in Victor Ostrowsky’s “By Way of Deception”.

Although Premadasa made disparaging remarks about Athulathmudali, Athulathmudali’s connections to Israel date back to the early 1960s, when he returned from Oxford to join the National University of Singapore as a new academic. Dr. Peter Ellinger, a colleague in Singapore, later recalled Athulathmudali’s interactions with Israel.

“The second event I like to mention is Lalith’s visit to Israel. The invitation was extended by foreign ministry by either in 1962 or 1963 on the recommendation of Israeli ambassador to Thailand, Mordechai Kidron whom Lalith had met at a house of Israeli friend of mine in Singapore. I know for certain that professionally and socially visit of some three weeks was a great success. Professionally it enabled Lalith to make some contacts, which I believe of were use to him in years to come. His impacts in social occasions was enthusiastically reported by some of my friends at home. It was clear that he had left an impact” –Peter Ellinger, Reflections on Lalith, 1994, Sarvodaya Vishvaleka: Colombo, P.78.-

Ellinger, who was Jewish, clearly played a leading role in establishing contacts between Israel and Athulathmudali during the early stage of Athulathmudali’s professional career. Contrary to later narratives portraying Athulathmudali as a lecturer in jurisprudence recruited by Israeli institutions, his actual visit was brief—lasting only three weeks—during which he undertook a short research fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research focused on the language policy of the Israeli judiciary in court proceedings, which he regarded as an admirable and efficient system compared with those of other Middle Eastern states. Upon returning to Singapore, Athulathmudali published his findings on the Israeli court system’s language policy in the Quarterly of Comparative and International Law, where the article received significant attention from legal scholars in 1965.

Besides his academic collaborations with Hebrew University in Jerusalem, what intrigues modern researchers most is the long-term connection he cemented in Israel. This connection may have bolstered his political growth in the future. Ellinger recalled much later that the entire tour Athulathmudali took part in was patronized by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This seems to indicate that Israelis assessed the usefulness of young Athulathmudali. Their judgment proved accurate within the next 15 years as Athulathmudali made robust progress in Sri Lankan politics. His brief 1964 stint in Jerusalem left an indelible impact on him. Later, this experience boosted his cooperation with Israelis during his tenure as Minister of National Security under J. R. Jayewardene.

When the Jayewardene administration grappled with numerous obstacles in its efforts to suppress the nascent stage of Tamil militant separatism, most of its Western allies appeared reluctant to provide military assistance to the island nation. To address the challenges faced by Sri Lanka’s military, both Athulathmudali and the President’s son, Ravi Jayewardene, leaned toward fostering ties with Israel—a move facilitated by the American envoy Walter Vernon, who advised the U.S. ambassador in Colombo to permit the establishment of an Israeli section within the embassy. This marked the first occasion on which the United States hosted representatives of another country within its embassy compound, demonstrating Washington’s keen interest in Israel’s involvement in Sri Lankan affairs.

However, the actions of the Jayewardene administration to befriend Israel gutted many actors within the government and outside, especially as it irked New Delhi to an unprecedented level. Amidst these pressures that encompassed Jayewardene’s government, the decision to gain Israel’s support remained unshaken, mainly due to Athulathmudali’s persistence. In 1984, after a failed attempt by EROS to kill Israeli agent David Matani on the 9th floor of the Oberoi hotel, Israelis moved to the Liberty Plaza building in Colombo under the guise of agriculture advisors, which made it easier for them, as the reserved site in the Liberty Plaza building was rented through the port authority which was held under Athulathmudali’s ministry.

Unlike many Sri Lankan politicians who built love hate relationship with Tel Aviv later, Athulathmudali opted for a blunt , curt policy of admitting Israel’s role in developing Sri Lanka’s defence . When he was interviewed by the New York Times in 1984 , he reiterated that Colombo looked for Israeli support after the United States, Britain, and West Germany rejected official requests for aid in improving the intelligence system and training troops in counterinsurgency. He further affirmed that about 10 Israeli agents provided intelligence training to 100 Sri Lankan officers, claiming that “Our intelligence system was not geared to this kind of thing”.

Athulathmudali was pragmatist by all means who realized the Israeli imperative to shun the Tamil insurgents supported by India’s RAW. Having known Israeli policy towards non- Arab countries, he was equally aware of Israel’s interest in South Asia which was reflected in David Matani’s phase “Return to Asia“.

Athulathmudali’s cooperation with Israel during one of the most critical periods in Sri Lanka’s history was a bold undertaking in which he demonstrated neither hesitation nor deceit. His pro-Israeli policy was once described by India’s former High Commissioner in Colombo, JN Dixit, as a stark reflection of his anti-Indian sentiments. It may be a truism to suggest that Israeli influence in Sri Lanka would have been significantly stronger, regardless of internal or external factors, had Athulathmudali remained in power.