Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, who left today for a one-week visit to Canada and the United States, will not meet Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in New York, informed sources reported here.
The sources said that the Chancellor felt there was insufficient time for such a meeting in the period between his arrival in New York City and Premier Eshkol’s departure. However, the sources insisted that the Chancellor’s reasons could not, under any circumstances, be interpreted as a desire to evade meeting Mr. Eshkol. At the same time they emphasized that there were some issues between West Germany and Israel which it would be better “to let ripen” before an Erhard-Eshkol meeting.
The issue of widening indemnification benefits to victims of Nazism, it was reported, is not one which Chancellor Erhard feds fall into that category. The Chancellor, on the contrary, who feels he has a “good conscience” on the matter, has not reached a final decision on that question. He reportedly holds the position that West Germany has consistently shown its good intentions on the indemnification questions and that under no circumstances will the Federal Republic “fail to pay just claims.”
Despite his views on the desirability of postponing a meeting with Mr. Eshkol, the Chancellor was reported as considering an invitation to President Nasser of Egypt to visit West Germany. However, no final decision has been reached on such an invitation and no date has been set. The question of an invitation to Nasser, who reportedly is anxious to visit West Germany is “under consideration,” the sources reported.
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