Cabinet Hears Mrs. Meir’s Report on Visit to Britain, Talks with Foreign Leaders

The Israel Cabinet held a special session today to hear Premier Golda Meir’s report on her visit to England. No details were released but a spokesman told newsmen that Mrs. Meir believed her meetings with British and other foreign leaders gave her an opportunity to explain Israel’s position in detail. In addition to Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart, Mrs. Meir talked with West German Foreign Minister Willy Brandt and Italian Foreign Minister Pietro Nenni whom she met at the conference of the Socialist International at East-borne.

Mrs. Meir reportedly said that she felt the British Government and people are basically friendly toward Israel and that the differences between Britain and Israel over approaches to Middle East peace would continue to be discussed in a friendly atmosphere. She said she was impressed with British Jewry’s identification with Israel. Asked upon her return, about Britain’s pending sale of modern Chieftain tanks to Libya, Mrs. Meir said. “If I were asked by any government to sell arms to any government whose policy it is to attack another state or another government, I would say no. But I wasn’t asked and the British Government, when it decided, thought it was not harmful to the security of Israel.