Israel’s new Ambassador to France said today that “the climate between the two countries has already changed” for the better and that it was the hope of all concerned that this trend will continue. Ambassador Asher Ben Nathan addressed a luncheon given in his honor by the Anglo-American Press Association. He said there was a determination in both the Israel and French governments to “improve relations between them and re-open the dialogue.” Franco-Israeli relations deteriorated sharply at the time of the Six-Day War when then President Charles de Gaulle branded Israel an aggressor and declared an arms embargo which has not yet been lifted. Replying to questions, Mr. Ben Nathan said he would not disagree with Secretary of State William P. Rogers’ statement at a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels last week that the climate is now ripe for Israeli-Egyptian peace talks. “Indeed, It seems to be better than at any other time since 1967,” the Israeli envoy said. He warned of the Soviet Union’s designs in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean which he described as “old fashioned imperialism.”
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