The Speaker of the Greek Parliament, Yiannis Alevras, has accepted an invitation to visit Israel, extended by his counterpart, Knesset Speaker Shlomo Hillel. He will make the visit in May 1987 as the head of a Greek Parliamentary delegation.
The invitation was conveyed to Alevras by Moshe Gilboa, Israel’s diplomatic representative here. Although Gilboa holds the rank of Ambassador, Greece and Israel do not have diplomatic ties on the Ambassadorial level and their relations until recently have been cool.
The fact that Alevras accepted the invitation without hesitation and immediately set a date was considered significant by diplomatic observers here. The Speaker is one of the two closest associates and confidants of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and apparently had Papandreou’s blessings to make the trip.
The State-owned radio and television highlighted it in their newscasts, something not done when Israeli and Greek officials exchanged visits in the past. According to Gilboa, Alevras’ forthcoming trip to Israel will be of special importance to relations between the two countries. He noted it will be the first time a Greek Parliamentary delegation has visited the Jewish State.
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