Chancellor Willy Brandt went fishing in the Sea of Galilee was narrowly missed by two eggs thrown at him outside the Jerusalem City Hall and laughed ruefully with sweltering guests inside after the air conditioning broke down. Those were some of the non-political aspects of the West German leader’s four-day visit to Israel which ends tomorrow.
Brandt, the first Chancellor of the German Federal Republic to visit Israel, also met with a delegation of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union and promised them he would do his best to try to secure the release of Jews imprisoned in the USSR because they wanted to emigrate to Israel.
The Chancellor went on a walking tour of East Jerusalem today, but in the guise of a tourist rather than as a guest of the State. The private nature of the visit was emphasized lest Brandt’s presence in the Old City be construed as German recognition of Israel’s annexation of the area. He visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and was greeted outside by a German Franciscan theologist. Prof. Wolfgang Elpidius Pax, with whom he conversed in German. He waved to Arab shopkeepers who stood outside their shops. Later he attended a reception given by Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem at which he was introduced to the Arab Mayor of Hebron, Sheikh Mohammed Ali el-Jaabari.
Brandt was the guest of Deputy Premier Yigal Allon at his home at Kibbutz Ginossar on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee. He arrived there Friday afternoon wearing a brown summer suit, a light hat and pink shirt. He took a swim in the pool, fished in the sea and proudly displayed a medium sized St. Peter’s fish that he caught. Later he attended a cocktail party given by Allon and was introduced to Israeli, Arab and Druze notables. Brandt took a night-time sail on the lake.
WILL SPEAK OF JEWS IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA
His meeting with the Russian immigrants was arranged by Allon. The delegation consisted of Miklai Zand; Dr. Yehuda Harif; Zima Kaminska; Aviva Braun and Michaeil Radomitzikski. They expounded at length on the situation of Jews in the USSR. The Chancellor replied: “Unfortunately, West Germany has not much influence on Russia, but I can assure you that I shall take every opportunity to speak of the Jews imprisoned in Russia.”
The egg incident occurred as Brandt was entering the Jerusalem City Hall to attend Mayor Kollek’s reception. The thrower managed to hide behind a wall despite heavy security measures. Brandt was unaware of the assault as one egg was caught by a security man in mid-air and the other splattered a policeman. The reception in the City Hall, attended by a gathering of Jews, Arabs and Christian dignitaries, was marred by the air conditioning failure in the City Council chamber. The guest of honor took it with good humor, drawing laughter when he spoke of Mayor Kollek’s “warm” reception as he mopped his brow.
Emerging from City Hall, Brandt waved at crowds across the street who responded with waves and applause. There were some boos and shouts of “Germans go home.” Brandt called on President Ephraim Katzir Friday, accompanied by Premier Golda Meir and Foreign Minister Abba Eban. Israel’s President presented the visitor with a 2000-year-old glass vase from the Second Temple period. Brandt also met at the King David Hotel with former Premier David Ben Gurion.
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.
