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Bonn Denies Proposing Anti-israel Conditions to Arab Governments

March 28, 1967
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An official Government source denied to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today reports in the Egyptian press which had stated that the West German Government had proposed a four-point program in an effort to influence the Arab states to resume diplomatic relations with West Germany. Those relations have been suspended since the establishment of West German diplomatic relations with Israel.

According to a report in an Egyptian weekly, Akbar el Yom, received here and widely reprinted by the German press, Bonn is supposed to have offered a pledge not to deliver any arms to Israel, not to conclude another reparations agreement with Israel, support the “rights” of the Arab refugees and not to interfere in the international affairs of any Arab state.

The official German source pointed out that the points about arms to Israel and about reparations are “meaningless,” since there are no German arms deliveries to Israel and the German reparations have long since been ended “and nobody talks about prolonging them.”

It was noted here that official West German circles have indicated many times that the Government, which is “very much” interested in a resumption of diplomatic relations with all the Arab states, is not inclined to accept any preconditions toward such a detente. The Egyptian report was described here as “another move in the Arab psychological battle to restore prestige.”

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