Israeli President Yitzhak Navon arrived here this morning for a four-day visit to Washington which includes a meeting with President Reagan at the White House tomorrow.
Navon was greeted at Andrews Air Force base by Nicholas Veliotes, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, and then flown by helicopter to the Washington Monument grounds where he was greeted by Secretary of State George Shultz. The two men had a 30-minute meeting in Navon’s hotel room.
Navon’s visit has caused a stir in the media in Israel and here because of speculation that it may be the beginning of a buildup for the Israeli President, a former Labor Party Member of Knesset, to challenge Premier Menachem Begin in the next Knesset elections. But the Reagan Administration has vigorously denied any complicity in this buildup.
State Department deputy spokesman Alan Romberg stressed today, as he did yesterday, that the United States is not getting involved in Israel’s domestic politics. He said the welcome for Navon is “standard for this type of visit” which he said is that for an official of a foreign government, such as Navon, who is not here on a state visit but is a guest of the U.S. government while in Washington. Navon is head of state in Israel but his duties are largely ceremonial. Begin is head of government.
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