Stopping off in the Greek capital following his five-day visit of state to the United Arab Republic, Italian Premier Amintore Fanfani told a press conference yesterday that he had “always stated and repeated that Israel exists and is an historical and geographical reality.”
Later, sources close to the Premier confirmed to Mrs. Tullia Zevi, Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent who accompanied Premier Fanfani on his Egyptian visit, that the Premier had during his meetings with United Arab Republic President Nasser repeatedly emphasized the unanimous determination of Italy and the West to defend Israel’s right to existence. The Premier also expressed the hope that Arab leaders would eventually recognize Israel’s existence. The same source told the JTA correspondent that President Nasser seemed to admit the inevitability of such a move by the Arabs.
At the press conference, the Italian Premier reported that he and President Nasser had discussed in detail the situation of the Arab refugees. Premier Fanfani declared: “If, during the past three years the West had made fewer mistakes toward Egypt, the situation would be different today. The free world must help those who make an effort to better their economic and social standards. All those who seek and wish for equilibrium in this sector must help raise living standards with a view to eliminating the social and international imbalance.”
(The West German Government this week-end recalled its Ambassador in Cairo “for consultations” in the first of two moves designed to underline its displeasure at the United Arab Republic’s reception of East German Premier Otto Grotewohl and at the announcement that the UAR and East Germany would exchange consulates general. In another move heralding a possible break in relations between Bonn and Cairo, a Parliamentary delegation which was scheduled to visit Cairo during a tour of the Middle East was told to bypass the UAR capital.)
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
