An Israeli official told the first Conference on African Economic Development Plans today that while Israel was happy to contribute its skills to developing African countries, it was not an intermediary between those countries “and capitalist countries.”
That comment by Mark Jarblum of the International Department of the Histadrut, Israel’s Federation of Labor, was prompted by a comment from Dr. Carlo Schmidt, West German Social Democrat. Dr. Schmidt said that Israelis were more qualified to help Africans than the European countries and for that reason the European nations should supply the means to Israel to continue its help to African countries.
Israeli participants, though convinced that Dr. Schmidt has been well-meaning, feared that his remark might be misinterpreted as meaning that Israel would be willing to operate as an intermediary of European interests in Africa.
The Histadrut official also told the delegates from 19 African countries to the conference that Israel “does not have dollars, rubles or sterling, only experience. We are happy that your pupils are learning skills in Israel and that we can send you experts. Israel’s contributions come from its own efforts and means and not from other countries. Our help is small but sincere and moral.”
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