A further warming of relations between the Soviet Union and Israel and a first step toward direct trade between the two countries is appearing on the horizon, as informed sources here are saying there could be an opening of chambers of commerce soon in each country.
Informed sources here indicate that bilateral chambers of commerce will be a subject of discussion when Peres meets with his Soviet counterpart, Eduard Shevardnadze, during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which begins Sept. 20.
Earlier this summer during a visit to Leningrad, Daniel Gillerman, president of the Israel Federation of Chambers of Commerce, broached the subject of the establishment of mutual chambers of commerce in Leningrad and Tel Aviv with Soviet authorities.
At about the same time, the Soviets announced they would be exporting television programs to Israel.
The topic surfaced again during talks between Nimrod Novik, a foreign policy adviser to Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Gennady Terasov, a Soviet Foreign Ministry specialist on the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the head of the Israeli consular mission to Moscow, Meron Gordon, was back in Israel this week to brief Israeli leaders on the status of Soviet-Israel relations. He consulted with both Peres and Premier Yitzhak Shamir Thursday before returning to Moscow.
According to speculations in the press here, members of the Moscow delegation return frequently to Israel for debriefings, because they lack protected communication equipment through which diplomatic reports are normally sent.
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