Sapir Meets with Top U.S. Political Financial Experts to Discuss $ Devaluation

Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir of Israel met with top Administration political and financial experts here today to discuss the effects of the recent devaluation of the U.S. dollar on Israel’s economy.

Sapir attended a luncheon at the residence of Israeli Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin at which the participants included Paul Volcker, Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Monetary Affairs; William E. Simon, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury; Arthur Burns, chairman of the Federal Reserve System; Joseph J. Sisco, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs; and Harold Saunders, specialist on Israeli affairs on the staff of Dr. Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s national security advisor.

Details of their discussions were not disclosed. It was understood, however, that the recent monetary events were the principal reason for Sapir’s one-day visit to Washington. The Israeli Cabinet Minister arrived in the U.S. last week on a private visit in connection with the Israel Bond Organization campaign. He left Washington late this afternoon for Miami to attend a Bond function and to address the mid-winter conference of the Israel Histadrut Foundation in Miami Beach. He is expected to return to Washington within the next few days for a meeting with Secretary of the Treasury George P. Schultz, to discuss a $300 million loan for arms purchases.

While in the capital today, Sapir met with Roy Ash, head of the Office of Management and Budget and met for 45 minutes with Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Rush at the State Department. State Department spokesman Charles Bray told reporters afterwards that the meeting was part of the “continuing dialogue with Israel.” He said financial questions in general and U.S. assistance to Israel were discussed.