Avi Pazner, information officer of the Israeli Embassy, said today that the report of an angry exchange between Ambassador Simcha Dinitz and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger during a black-tie dinner party last night honoring former Israeli premier Golda Meir was “completely baseless.” Pazner said that Dinitz and Kissinger “didn’t even touch on the Middle East or political subjects” during the party.
The Embassy official said, however, that Dinitz had not issued a denial of the report. That was at variance with State Department spokesman Robert Anderson who told reporters earlier today that the report “has already been denied by Dinitz” and was “absolutely ridiculous.”
The issue developed when two Israeli reporters wired stories back to Israel saying that they had seen Kissinger and Dinitz flailing their arms during what appeared to be a heated and angry discussion. The reporters concluded that the two diplomats were arguing about the next steps in the Middle East peace negotiations between Israel and Egypt.
However, Kissinger and Dinitz did discuss the Mideast, but that was earlier yesterday. The two met for two hours to discuss Mideast developments since Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon’s visit to Washington a week ago. Dinitz and Kissinger were said to have exchanged views on information the U.S. has received from Arab capitals and also discussed the recent meeting between President Ford and President Giscard d’Estaing, of France on Martinique.
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