West German Foreign Minister Walter Scheele said last night that he would visit Israel next fall and didn’t care whether the Arabs liked it or not. Dr. Scheele spoke after accepting an invitation to Israel extended to him by Foreign Minister Abba Eban. Mr. Eban arrived here yesterday on an official visit at Dr. Scheele’s invitation. He attended a dinner given in his honor by the West German Foreign Minister. Earlier Mr. Eban conferred for an hour with Chancellor Willy Brandt and also had talks with Dr. Scheele, Finance Minister Alex Mueller and Economics Minister Karl Schiller.
Dr. Scheele was asked by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent whether he was concerned over unfavorable Arab reaction to his projected trip to Israel. He replied, “I do what I please. Our relations with Israel have nothing whatever to do with our relations with the Arabs. They will have to get used to this attitude of mine. I visited India but did not visit Pakistan and nobody worried about it,” he said. Mr. Eban and his entourage appeared to be satisfied with their talks so far with West German leaders. About 200 Arab and left wing German students demonstrated outside the Chancellory during his meeting with Mr. Brandt but attracted little attention. Erich Mende, a former leader of the Free Democratic Party, said as long as there is no peace in the Mideast, “Germany must make it clear that her support for Israel is not open to negotiation.”
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.
