Foreign Minister Abba Eban told Parliament today that there had not been any United States pressure on Israel to reverse a refusal to meet a request from South Vietnam for experts. Mr. Eban said that the Saigon regime had made the request for agricultural and other experts several months ago with United States Government blessing.
In reply to a question, Mr. Eban also said that Israel was ready in principle to establish diplomatic relations with any government asking for such ties, A Foreign Ministry spokesman said later that Mr. Eban had expressed only the juridical aspect of the question and that a prior Government statement that Israel felt that establishment of relations with South Vietnam was currently inopportune.
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.
