Reuven Barkat, former head of the Histadrut’s political department and presently Ambassador to Norway, was reported today as scheduled to become Israel’s new envoy to the Soviet Union. Dr. Aryeh Harel, the present Ambassador to Moscow, is scheduled to return to his medical research post at the Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv.
Mr. Barkat had been scheduled, in line with regular procedure, to come to Israel for consultations before taking up his new post. Since he was a top Histadrut executive and left for Norway after the dispute involving Histadrut secretary-general Pinhas Lavon erupted, it was felt that his return to Israel at the present time would involve him in the current phase of the Lavon dispute.
For that reason, the Foreign Ministry’s director-general, Hayim Yahil, took a trip to Switzerland to meet Mr. Barkat there for the consultations.
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