Dr. Konrad Adenauer confirmed here today reports that, as West German Chancellor, he had promised West German economic aid to Israel in 1960, in a talk with then Israeli Premier David Ben-Gurion, during a meeting in New York.
He made that statement in an interview with a reporter for the Tel Aviv newspaper, Yediot Achrenoth, but refused to confirm the reported figure of $500,000,000 in such aid. He said that the meeting with Mr. Ben-Gurion was primarily a friendly, private affair, and that business matters had been discussed only in “rough outlines.” When pressed as to whether a specific figure had been considered, he gestured toward some papers and said: “These are the minutes of the meeting, but this would not be an opportune time to reveal the details, in view of the difficulties in the current German-Israel negotiations.”
The long-delayed Bonn-Jerusalem negotiations on West German economic aid to Israel were started last month in Bonn, and were convened four times before being postponed until April amid reports that there were sharp differences between the Israelis and the West Germans. “I am extremely anxious that the talks should reach a successful conclusion as soon as possible,” the former Chancellor added, “and I do not wish to obscure them by revealing at the present” any details of the conversations with Mr. Ben-Gurion.
He was asked to explain his recent remark that failure of the talks would have world-wide repercussions. He replied that his remarks were in the nature of a hint to the West German delegation to do everything in its power to reach a satisfactory agreement.
Asked his opinion as to the value of a frequently-discussed, but unscheduled meeting between Dr. Ludwig Erhard, his successor as Chancellor, and Premier Levi Eshkol of Israel, Dr. Adenauer replied he thought it would be a “bad thing.” He said it would have an adverse effect on the Arab countries and would not advance the interests either of West Germany or Israel. He said that, when he had been Chancellor, such a meeting might have been worthwhile, since he had initiated friendly relations with Israel.
Dr. Adenauer, who resigned yesterday as chairman of the Christian Democratic Union to become honorary president, will visit Israel in May. He said he was eager to see how Israel had developed. Asked why he had waited so long to accept the invitation to visit Israel, extended to him several years ago by Mr. Ben-Gurion, he said that he would have loved to visit Israel before, but that he had not had the time, and that this was the sole reason for the delay.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
