On the eve of British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington’s visit here. Israeli sources said they hoped past "irritants" in the relationship between the two countries would be "smoothed out" in the course of two days of talks.
Carrington is due to arrive late tonight aboard a special plane. He has been attending the European Economic Community (EEC) summit in Brussels and is also occupied with the British dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
Israeli sources, briefing reporters, pointed out that Carrington has been Foreign Secretary for more than three years but this will be his first visit here. It was "too long a time to wait for the Foreign Minister of a friendly state, the sources said. "It would have been better had the visit been earlier."
They sought to distinguish between "differences of approach" which they said were to be expected, and "misunderstandings" of which they said there had been more with London over recent months than with any other Western government. They cited the EEC Venice declaration of 1980 and its aftermath, and the more recent quarrel over EEC states’ participation in the Sinai peacekeeping force.
HECTIC SCHEDULE FOR CARRINGTON
Carrington will meet with Premier Menachem Begin. Both sides are hoping they will be able to develop a personal rapport which will help dissipate the lingering impressions of their past public quarrels.
The British diplomat will also hold three working sessions with his host, Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir. He will meet separately with Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and Labor Party leader Shimon Peres. Carrington will also call on President Yitzhak Navon and Knesset Speaker Menachem Savidor. He will visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
Carrington will hold a press conference in Jerusalem tomorrow before visiting the Weismann Institure of Science in Rehovot and later in the day will visit nearby Kibbutz Naan. He will leave Israel Thursday evening.
AUSTRALIAN F.M. CALLS FOR PALESTINIAN HOMELAND
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Anthony Street called here yesterday for "a Palestinian homeland alongside Israel." Winding up a four-day visit that included a meeting with Begin and political talks with Shamir, Street declined to specify how this solution was to be achieved. He was cautious, too, in his comments on the West Bank disturbances, expressing "concern" at the "unhappy events."
He said they had "not been helpful in making progress towards a settlement of the Palestinian issue, the central, crucial issue" of the Mideast conflict.
Today, Street visited the Australian unit serving with the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Sinai. He told reporters that Australia viewed the MFO and the Sinai withdrawal as "separable" from the problem of the West Bank.
Street also met "privately" with Bethlehem Mayor Elias Freij and said the talk was "a very valuable addition" to his visit. He goes on to Egypt and Jordan late today.
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