Mrs, Meir: Meeting with Pope Was Serious; Frank; Recommends Continuing Dialogue with Vatican

Premier Golda Meir returned home last night and described her meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican Monday as “highly respectable, serious and frank” She said her meeting yesterday with President Felix Houphouet-Boigny of Ivory Coast in Geneva was nothing more than a visit to an old friend to “talk things over” and chided the press for making “a sensation” out of it. Mrs. Meir, surrounded by members of her Cabinet as she left her plane at Lod Airport read a prepared statement and answered reporters’ questions.

She said the Pope told her he wanted to help find a peaceful solution in the Middle East but he did not speak of mediation. “He would like to be helpful in the question of seeking peace in the Middle East.” Mrs. Meir said. She reiterated that her meeting with the Pope was held at the Vatican’s initiative, contrary to an oral statement by Vatican press spokesman Frederico Allessandrini. Referring to Allessandrini’s remarks, Mrs. Meir said, “Apparently our meeting was not viewed favorably by some people in the Vatican.”

The Israeli Premier said the Pope thanked her a number of times for the way Israel is safeguarding the holy sites in Jerusalem. She stated she found no signs of any misunderstanding by the Pontiff of Israel’s position with regard to Jerusalem–namely that the unified city is Israel’s capital. “I am not sure whether I changed his mind on some subjects, but what was important was that he heard our point of view and we his,” she said. Mrs. Meir added she would recommend to future Israeli Prime Ministers that they continue the dialogue with the Vatican.

DECRIES SENSATIONAL REPORTS

Mrs. Meir appeared nettled when asked by reporters if Houphouet-Boigny was prepared to use his influence in Africa on behalf of Israel which has suffered diplomatic set-backs there lately. She replied, “Your colleagues (of the press) in Europe have decided to make a sensation out of this meeting.” She said, “When I was on my trip I learned that a great friend and a wonderful personality was spending his annual holiday in Switzerland and I thought that it would be the right thing to meet him and talk things over. He was very nice and he is a very wise man.”

(The Ivory Coast Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, said in a communique issued today that Mrs. Meir’s meeting with Houphouet-Boigny was a “warm and open conversation.” The communique denied reports from some quarters that the Israeli Premier had asked the President to undertake a good will mission in Africa on Israel’s behalf. “No such request was made,” the communique said, adding “All the world knows with what anxieties African chiefs of state are guarding their countries’ sovereign rights.”)

Meanwhile, rumors persisted today that Black September terrorists had planned an attempt on Mrs. Meir’s life when she landed in Paris last Friday but were deterred by the security precautions taken by French authorities. According to the rumors, terrorist assassins from neighboring European countries were to attack Mrs. Meir at Orly Airport. Israeli security services learned of the plot and notified the French authorities who instituted special precautionary measures, the reports said.