White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler told reporters this afternoon that President Nixon “assured” Premier Golda Meir “of continuing U.S. support” for Israel during their 90-minute talk at the White House this morning. Ziegler said “The President felt today’s meeting was very constructive.” He added: “The talks were conducted in a friendly atmosphere which is the usual atmosphere when the Prime Minister and the President hold discussions.”
Ziegler noting that the President has met recently with King Hussein of Jordan and Hafez Ismail, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s personal envoy, warned, “There has been a period of long contention in the Middle East and we should not expect immediate solutions. But as we have said before, we are interested in doing what we can to contribute to a peaceful solution of the situation in that area.”
The White House spokesman stressed that it would be “inadvisable to expect an easy or instant or immediate results. The question, however, remains one of what we can contribute to moving toward peace in the area,” he said. Asked what the next step would be, Ziegler replied, “There have been very strong and constant discussion on the situation and these contacts will continue.”
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