Jewish Leaders, Kohlhold Frank Discussion on Arms Sale to Saudis but No One’s Mind is Changed

A dozen Jewish leaders held a “frank and open” discussion with Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany here yesterday but no one’s mind was changed on the possibility of Bonn selling arms to Saudi Arabia, according to Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress.

“People came in with the view that it is wrong, the German Federal Republic should not sell arms to Saudi Arabia, and left with the feeling they had made very little impact on the decision of the Chancellor,” Bronfman said after the one-hour meeting at Kohl’s hotel.

But, he added, he believes the meeting resulted in a “better understanding between the Chancellor and the Jewish world. I think these things take time and a lot of interpersonal relations,” he said.

Bronfman, who had a private meeting with Kohl before the general meeting said he accepted the Chancellor’s invitation to meet with him again in Bonn at the end of this month. While Kohl insisted that it was up to his government to make the decision, Bronfman said he got a “very good understanding of the way the Jewish people feel on the subject. Of that there can be no doubt.” Several of the participants at the meeting were Holocaust survivors.

Kohl also told the Jewish group that he would sell only defensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. Bronfman said one of the participants noted that both defensive and offensive weapons kill.

The German leader said he would take responsibility to ensure that whatever weapons were sold to the Saudis “didn’t get into terrorist or radical Arab hands.” As he did on the NBC-TV “Meet the Press” program last Sunday, Kohl “categorically” ruled out selling the Leopard II tank to Saudi Arabia, according to Bronfman.

Bronfman noted that before the weapons deal is actually signed, much could happen, such as the Saudis being unwilling to buy the weapons the Germans offer. While he did not say so, there was an implication that without the tanks, the Saudis might not want to purchase arms from the West Germans.

The issue has created a good deal of anxiety among Jews and it will take time to alleviate this, Bronfman noted. “Actions will probably speak louder than words,” he said.

STRESSES SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE

Bronfman said Kohl stressed his support for Israel and for the Jewish people, saying that he had learned to be opposed to anti-Semitism at his “mother’s breast.” Bronfman said he believes the Chancellor spoke from the “heart” and “I don’t think anybody could have left the room not fully understanding Chancellor Kohl’s commitment to the existence and security of the State of Israel.”

Kohl did not mention the advertisements by Jewish organizations that have appeared in various newspapers in the last few days opposing any German arms sales to Saudi Arabia, according to Bronfman. He would not say, however, if this was raised at his private meeting with Kohl.

But Bronfman noted that at the end of both the private and general meetings, Kohl said that no event and not even some of the harsh questions put to him could do anything to change his “love and respect for the Jewish people.”

Bronfman said there was also a brief discussion of the issue of Soviet Jewry with Kohl expressing his support for Jewish emigration to Israel which he called their “spiritual homeland.” Kohl also promised to raise the issue of Spain establishing diplomatic relations with Israel when he meets with Spanish President Filipe Gonzalez Marquez in Madrid this month.