Dr. George Josephthal, chief Israeli delegate at the reparations talks with Western Germany, left this morning on an urgent mission to Paris with instructions from Prime Minister David Ben Gurion regarding future steps in connection with the German-Israeli negotiations.
He refused to disclose the nature of the instructions. Yesterday, when he reached Israel from Paris, Dr. Josephthal indicated that the Bonn Government has made new preliminary proposals which may offer a basis for the resumption of the Israel-German reparations conference.
(The New York Herald Tribune, in an editorial today, calls upon Germany to make “a substantial payment” to Israel. “It can be hoped that a nation which is struggling to reassert its integrity will find some way to pay off this moral indebtedness,” the editorial says. “The Bonn Government would win itself much” good will throughout the world by demonstrating the sincerity of its intentions and honestly striving to reach an agreement,” the newspaper says.)
Dr. Josephthal disclosed that Premier Ben Gurion asked him to become Israel’s Minister of Finance, to succeed Eliezer Kaplan who resigned. However, he added that he declined the offer “because of the doubts I have in my ability to carry out this great task.” Mr. Kaplan will continue in office until the end June, it was indicated today in circles close to him.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
