West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, on the eve of his visit to Israel, has indicated that he would be willing to mediate between Israel and the Soviet Union toward restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries. Brandt made his remarks Friday to an Israeli television reporter in Bonn. He said that he might, if asked, use his good offices to that end.
Brandt said that the absence of relations between Israel and the USSR was unfortunate and “if anyone asks me to bring this opinion to the notice of others, I see no difficulties in making the attempt.” Describing his attitude toward the Middle East conflict as “balanced without being neutral,” Brandt said he would not convey any messages from Arab leaders to their Israeli counterparts but would give Israeli leaders his impression of the Arab attitude.
He noted that he had discussed the Middle East problem during his recent meetings with President Nixon in Washington and Soviet Communist Party Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev in Bonn.
Brandt said his talks with Israeli leaders, scheduled to start here Thursday, would deal with German-Israeli relations, the Common Market and the Middle East crisis.
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