Premier Levi Eshkol was disclosed today to have replied to letters from President Kennedy in a correspondence which started when David Ben-Gurion was Prime Minister. The content of the exchanges has been the subject of intensive consultations at top levels of the Israel Government.
Officials have been maintaining the strictest secrecy about the content of the exchanges. But it was generally known that the correspondence dealt with such vital aspects of Israel policies as the situation of the Arab refugees, and diplomatic and long-range security problems. A copy of Mr. Eshkol’s reply was submitted yesterday to United States Ambassador Walworth Barbour.
After Mr. Eshkol succeeded Mr. Ben-Gurion as Premier, President Kennedy sent a letter to Mr. Eshkol in which he indicated, in a recapitulation of his prior correspondence with Mr. Ben-Gurion, that he assumed a reply would be delayed because of the changes in the premiership.
The exchanges were considered in recent talks here in which the Israeli envoys to the United States, France and the United Nations were summoned to Jerusalem. The general tenor of the talks was conveyed to leaders of the opposition Herut and Liberal parties.
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