The Israel legation here today announced the receipt of a negative reply from the British Treasury to a request for credits to cover Israeli purchases of crude oil.
On March 20. Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett called on Prime Minister Winston Churchill and was believed to have raised the question of credits. Five days later, Mr. Sharett, accompanied by David Horowitz, economic advisor to the Israel Cabinet, called on the Chancellor of the British Treasury, R.A. Butler. At the end of a 45-minute discussion, the request for credits, amounting to some 10,000,000 pounds, was made. The amount would have covered Israel’s oil imports for one year.
The negative decision of the British Treasury is likely to have a severe effect on Israel industry. The oil, supplied from British firms, has covered most of Israel’s imports of this commodity. Since Mr. Sharett’s return to Israel, Mr. Horowitz had remained in London, waiting for the British Treasury’s reply. He will return to Israel tomorrow. This is the first big snag in Anglo-Israeli relations for some considerable time.
The Turkish Embassy here announced that Israel imported 360,800 pounds worth of goods from Turkey in 1951 and found buyers in Turkey during this same period for 725,000 pounds worth of Israel exports. The Embassy spokesman said that the three-year-old Turkish-Israel trade agreement “continues to be applied successfully to develop reciprocal commercial exchange.”
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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.
