Kissinger Meets with Jewish Leaders

Following an hour long meeting with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, Jewish leaders said yesterday they had acquired a “better understanding” of the Administration’s Middle East policy and the relationship of U.S.-sponsored bilateral negotiations to a final peace settlement. Serving as spokesman for the group were Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and Max Fisher, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency.

Rabbi Miller and Fisher led a delegation of 16 heads of national Jewish organizations which met Tuesday with Kissinger for one hour in his office. In a statement reporting the meeting, Rabbi Miller and Fisher said that the Secretary had given the Jewish leaders a comprehensive review of the Middle East scene with emphasis on the current status of negotiations between Israel and Egypt.

Kissinger, according to the statement, gave the Jewish leaders an overview of what the U.S. seeks to accomplish in the Middle East explaining the step-by-step procedure, and answered questions about American guarantees of a Middle East settlement and the American response to Arab boycott pressures, “Secretary Kissinger reiterated Administration support of a militarily and economically strong Israel and its importance to the U.S.,” the Jewish leaders stated, adding; “We had a friendly, frank and full review of the current situation and a fruitful exchange of ideas.”