The Arab-Israeli conflict is on the agenda of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s four-day visit to West Germany, where he arrived Monday.
He will be urged by his hosts to speed up the normalization process with Israel and reestablish full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, a government official said.
According to the official, the Federal Republic believes the Soviet Union could contribute more effectively to the Middle East peace process if it had diplomatic relations with Israel.
At the moment, the Soviets and Israelis have consular delegations in each other’s countries. But they are restricted in the scope of their diplomatic activities.
The Israeli delegation in Moscow has just been allowed to return to the Israel Embassy building, vacant since the Soviets broke relations with Israel in 1967.
But it still is not permitted to issue entry visas to thousands of Soviet Jews seeking to emigrate. Israeli visas are still being issued at the Israel interests section of the Dutch Embassy in Moscow.
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