Meir Shamir, head of land development for the Jewish National Fund in Israel, recently met with a delegation from the People’s Republic of China at an annual tree fair in Austria. Both Shamir and the Chinese delegation were invited to a dinner together by the fair’s organizer. The Chinese, however, after much hesitation and consultation among themselves, decided that they could not attend a dinner with Shamir because “we do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. ” The Chinese did, nevertheless, consent to speak with Shamir, confining their discussion solely to the subject of forestry in the two countries.
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.