The State Department said today that Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon would meet with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger here “in the middle of next week” but gave no specific date for their meeting. Today’s announcement followed earlier reports that Allon was expected in Washington on or about Jan. 10–Israeli sources said Jan, 9–but State Department spokesman Robert Anderson said that this was never announced by the Department and that he would not set a date for the meeting.
Anderson confirmed that Kissinger met twice over the weekend with Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz. He said the meetings were a “full, friendly and comprehensive review of the situation in the Middle East in all of its aspects in advance of Allon’s visit in the middle of next week,” The unusual weekend sessions lasted 45 minutes on Saturday and 90 minutes yesterday.
Allon’s visit here next week will be his second in five weeks, Anderson said Allon would arrive in Washington at the conclusion of his travels in the U.S. He refused to comment on the substance of the upcoming Kissinger-Allon talks because they fall in the “period of quiet diplomacy.” He said that to his knowledge, the Secretary has not been meeting with any Arab ambassadors in connection with the Allon visit.
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