Sapir Says Israel Faces Danger of Commercial Isolation

Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir said yesterday that Israel faced the danger of commercial isolation owing to the trend toward the regional-political organization of international trade. He said that if the trend continued, Israel could find itself without trading partners. Sapir presented a survey to the Knesset by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry which he heads. He said international trade was becoming a political rather than a commercial matter. He conceded that Israel’s hopes of being admitted as a full member of the European Common Market have been “dashed.” He said that when Israel signed its first preferential trade treaty with the EEC last year it hoped for ultimate membership “but this, to our regret, has not been the case.” According to Sapir, the reason was that “there is little understanding for Israel’s needs abroad.”