Eshkol to Ask Goldmann to Explain Statements on Israel Policy Made to Fulbright

Prime Minister Levi Eshkol or Foreign Minister Abba S. Eban will meet soon with Dr. Nahum Goldmann for clarification of the statement he reportedly made to Sen. J.W. Fulbright, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Israel Government’s Arab policy.

Sen. Fulbright said in a question and answer symposium in the Park Synagogue, Cleveland, earlier this week that Dr. Goldmann had “asked me to intercede with Israel to moderate its position.” The senator added that “what happens in the Mideast is much more important to us than what happens in Vietnam, A compromise would be in the best interests of Israel.”

Dr. Goldmann denied that he had sought Sen. Fulbright’s intercession. The President of the World Zionist Organization said that “I had an off the record talk with Sen. Fulbright and conveyed to him my impressions of the situation in the Near East. I told him that the Israel Cabinet has not yet reached a decision on future policy because it represents a large coalition of all the parties from right to left, with very different views. I indicated my belief that it would be useful for the government to formulate a decision on its own, and even told him that in my estimate the moderate elements have a majority in the Cabinet.” Dr. Goldmann added that “the purpose of this discussion was to inform him about the situation, but not to get him to bring about any American pressure on Israel.”

Israel Government officials declined to comment on Sen. Fulbright’s statement or on the reply issued in Dr. Goldmann’s behalf by the Jewish Agency. The Israeli press was not so reticent, however, and Tel Aviv’s two afternoon papers made blistering attacks on Dr. Goldmann today, questioned the veracity of his denial and called for his removal from leadership of the World Zionist Organization.