Prime Minister Levi Eshkol plans to visit the United States and Western Europe early next year for discussions with government leaders and to renew contacts with Jewish communities, according to a report here today in Yediot Ahronot, an afternoon daily newspaper. The paper said that the Premier will leave either next January or February for a two-week visit to France, Britain and the United States, with a possibility that he might also confer with West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard.
The underlying motive for the trip, according to the newspaper, is generally believed to be economic. Mr. Eshkol will reportedly try to obtain in France increased support for Israel’s association with the European Economic Community. In the United States, he is expected to press for increased American official and private support for Israel’s crisis-stricken economy. The possible meeting with Chancellor Erhard was seen as an opportunity for a major discussion of the relations between the two countries, and the prospects for their future economic cooperation.
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