Brandt Says Mideast Was ‘most Difficult Subject’ in Israel Talks

Returning from Israel, Chancellor Willy Brandt told television audiences last night that a Mideast peace settlement was not yet in sight, although it was now clearer to him how talks could be achieved. He did not elaborate. He said the most difficult subject of his discussions-with Premier Golda Meir had been the Middle East problem, both from her view and from that of Brandt, who believes that there can be no secure peace in Europe without a peace settlement in the Middle East.

On another television channel. Brandt repeated that West Germany could not take on the role of mediator in the conflict, nor did he think it was a matter for Bonn to act as go-between in helping to restore Soviet-Israeli relations. The Chancellor thought that Bonn’s Mideast policy had maintained a balanced attitude even after the Israel visit.

Brandt said he had talked with Israeli Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir on free-trade relations between Israel and the European Economic Community. He reached agreement with Sapir that the Brussels Commission should be given a mandate to seek a settlement on this point. German private investments were also discussed. On other bilateral topics, Brandt said both countries should orientate themselves more toward the future, without forgetting the past.

GERMAN PRESS SEES END OF ERA

The West German press carried lengthy reports and comments today on Brandt’s visit to Israel. The papers stressed that Germans would like to see the visit as ending a disastrous period in German-Jewish relations and opening a new chapter.

The “Bonner-Rundschau” said the Adenauer era of special relations and reparation (not only material reparation) is completely past. Brandt’s formula of “normal relations of a special character” expressed new relations in which the past is only an evil memory and does not mean any obligation for the present and certainly not the future, the paper said. It said that Brandt offered his “Ostpolitik” of reconciliation with Eastern Europe as a pattern for the Middle East. He does not urge-Israel to give up all its occupied territories but urges the Arabs to recognize the existing realities, said the “Bonner Rundschau.”

An article in “Die Welt” said Brandt was against a mediatory role in the Middle East, but seemed to feel he has a function as catalyst. It said first-hand information was indispensable in forming-judgements, especially on the question of secured frontiers. The paper said Jews and Arabs must cease to be arch-enemies, just as the Germans and French had.