The head of a visiting Knesset delegation appealed to West Germany today to help Israel overcome the effects of the 20-year Arab boycott by supporting its efforts to gain associate status with the European Common Market. David Hacohen, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Relations and Security Committee, speaking at a gathering attended by members of the Bundestag, West Germany’s lower house, also urged the German legislators to try to abolish the statute of limitations on war crimes prosecutions which he called a moral, not a juridical issue. Mr. Hacohen was told later by Bundestag vice president Erwin Shoettler that Israel could be assured that “Germany will help her with respect to the European Common Market” and would also deal with the question of the statute which is due to go into effect at the end of the year.
Mr. Hacohen said that West Germany, perhaps more than any other nation could help Israel combat the boycott. Every boycott success only encourages the Arab “illusion” that Israel could be destroyed, he said. The statute of limitations could create an erroneous impression abroad that Germans wanted to gloss over the Nazi era, he noted. The Knesset delegation was received here by Herr Shoettler in the absence of Bundestag president Kaie-Uwe Von Hassel who was ill. The Israeli legislators were to meet with Bundestag members tomorrow and expected to meet on Friday with Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger and Foreign Minister Willy Brandt.
Mr. Hacohen said the Arab states refused to make peace with Israel because they hoped the free world would abandon the Jewish State “as did Gen. de Gaulle who was once a friend and ally of our country.” He said the French President was putting economic pressure on Israel and looked on passively while the Soviet Union and Communist China poured weapons into the Arab states. He said Israel was grateful to the German people for the positive attitude they displayed during the crisis of the June, 1967 Six-Day War.
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