The Foreign Ministry denied reports published here and abroad today that Premier Golda Meir has asked the United States for one billion dollars in economic aid to balance Israel’s expected foreign trade deficit over the next five years. The reports appeared in the newspaper Yediot Achronot and were carried by the State-owned Kol Israel radio.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that reports concerning specific requests said to have been made by Mrs. Meir in her talks with President Richard M. Nixon in Washington last week were “pure speculation.” The spokesman said that neither the Foreign Ministry nor the Prime Minister’s office had any information about such requests, particularly the one billion dollars in aid.
Kol Israel quoted “well informed sources” in Jerusalem for its report. Yediot Achronot credited its economic correspondent in Jerusalem. According to the newspaper, President Nixon did not commit himself but promised a definite answer in the near future. The reports said that Mrs. Meir left it up to the President to decide how the aid would be rendered — whether by long term loan, a grant or by very easy credit terms for the purchase of military hardware in the U.S. Israel’s trade deficit stems from its heavy expenditure for arms abroad.
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