The Israel Government has rejected as unsatisfactory statements issued by two West German firms explaining their position on the Arab boycott of Israel and will continue efforts to obtain clarification from the West German Foreign Ministry and the firms themselves, it was disclosed here. The firms — two of West Germany’s greatest industrial enterprises. Thyssen and Mannesmann — had contracted to supply Israel with the steel pipe required for construction of the Eilat-Ashdod oil pipeline. An Arab Boycott Office announcement said that the two firms had agreed to comply with the boycott.
Director-General Gideon Rafael of the Israel Foreign Ministry raised the issue this week in a meeting with Dr. Rolf Pauls, the West German Ambassador. Israel is seeking a clear-cut statement from the two firms that they will not yield to the Arab boycott and will discharge their contractual obligations to Israel by providing the balance of the pipe for which they received orders. The two firms competed for, and won, contracts to supply Israel with 90, 000 tons of 42-inch steel pipe at a cost of about $12 million. Thyssen has completed delivery on about 50 percent of the steel pipe for which it contracted. The pipeline, when completed, will permit tankers to discharge their cargo at Eilat into the pipeline carrying oil to Ashdod where other tankers can reload, thus bypassing the Suez Canal or the long journey around Africa.
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