Prime Minister Rudolf Lubbers confirmed at a news conference Friday that his planned trip to Israel next month was canceled at Israel’s initiative, not his own.
Lubbers also said that he will attend the Dutch community’s celebration of Israel’s 40th anniversary on Sunday night, April 24.
Lubbers and Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek were to have visited Israel from May 16 through 19 in connection with its 40th anniversary observances. The trip was called off because Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres will be in Washington on those dates.
Lubbers said he understood fully that Israel has more important concerns than visits by two Dutch Cabinet ministers and his attachment to Israel was none the less for it.
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.
