Premier Golda Meir told a television interviewer that she had sent emissaries to President Anwar Sadat over the past year suggesting secret talks–but the Egyptian leader had not responded. Mrs. Meir said she deduced from this that “Sadat is not interested in talks.” The special Independence Day interview will be screened in full tonight. A fragment of it was shown yesterday. In the same interview Mrs. Meir reportedly promised her final decision shortly after Independence Day on whether she will continue in office for another term as Premier.
In an interview with Davar, published today, Mrs. Meir praised Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir. “In some sections of the press–and not only of the press–great injustice is done to this man against whom all criticisms on social policies are levelled,” she said. “I know no other man who has done as much” to move the country toward “a real social revolution. Those who shout do not have the courage to compare the situation today to what it was in the past,” she said. Mrs. Meir has been reported to favor Sapir as her successor.
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