A Foreign Office spokesman today ruled out any possibility of West Germany helping to finance the Vienna-Tel Aviv airlift for Soviet Jewish immigrants. In Dec. 1971, the Israeli government appealed to the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration in Geneva for extra funds to help finance the airlift. Many countries responded, especially the United States, by providing extra funds over and above normal annual contributions to ICEM.
The West German section of ICEM has been trying unsuccessfully to persuade the Bonn government to give more than its annual two million DM general payment to ICEM. Because of the increasing number of Jews leaving Russia, ICEM funds set aside for the Vienna-Tel Aviv airlift have become inadequate.
ICEM officials in Bonn believe that the West German government has been shy about providing specific contributions for fear of jeopardizing relations with the Arab states. A Foreign Office spokesman said today that when the appeal was first made it had been decided that no contribution could be made for domestic budgetary reasons, and this had not changed. He said the Foreign Office considered the matter closed.
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