Israel would welcome extension of foreign economic aid to the Arab countries as a means of raising the social and economic level there, thus decreasing political tensions, Dr. F. Shinnar, head of the Israel trade mission in Germany, told an audience of leading German industrialists here.
The West German Government recently announced plans for extending aid to Middle East countries through long-term credits. Dr. Shinnar told the central organization of West German Chambers of Commerce, meeting here, that abatement of tension in the Middle East would lead to Arab-Israel understanding. Among his auditors were Prof Erhard, the Minister of Economics, and officials of the Economics, Finance and Foreign Ministries.
The Israeli diplomat also told the meeting that a German-Israel commodity exchange would continue even after expiration of the German-Israel reparations agreement. During the past two years, he reported, Israel had bought goods from Germany outside the reparations agreement, to the value of 120, 000,000 marks ($30,000,000). Of this, payment was made by Israel to the extent of 18, 000, 000 marks ($4, 500, 000) through citrus exports and the remainder in foreign currency.
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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.
