Dayan Raps Bonn’s Policy on Palestinian Self-determination

Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, returning from a three-day visit to West Germany today, said the Bonn government’s attitude toward Israel was positive despite its strong criticism of Israel’s settlements policy and its activity in south Lebanon. But he said those controversial issues did not come up in his talks with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher.

(According to a report by Alfred Schroeder, JTA correspondent in Bonn; Dayan said at a press conference in Bonn before his departure yesterday that relations between Israel and West Germany have changed for the worse because of Bonn’s support for Palestinian self-determination. He said that in Israel’s view, that could lead only to the creation of a Palestinian state which Israel would veto. “We would have to veto any such decision or intention by the Palestinians,” Dayan told reporters in Bonn, adding, “The idea that the Palestinian Arabs should have the right for self-determination is absolutely unacceptable to us.”

(On the other hand, Dayan said he had received assurances from the German government that there will be no official representation of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Bonn and that the government will not establish relations with the PLO He said he was very pleased with his two lengthy talks with Schmidt. “The Chancellor expressed and showed deep feelings toward Israel, warm and friendly. Apart from the question of current political issues, I found in him one of the closest friends that we can rely on in Germany.” West German officials have described their policy toward the Palestinians as based on the common Mideast policy adopted by the European Economic Community.)