King Juan Carlos I of Spain has accepted an invitation from President Chaim Herzog to visit Israel next year.
The invitation was delivered by Israeli Forging Minister David Levy, who met which the King Wednesday in Granada. Juan Carlos agreed that March 31, 1992 would be the symbolically appropriate date for his visit.
It will be the 500th anniversary of the signage by Queen Isabella of the decree expelling the Jews from Spain.
The date is subject to approval by the Spanish government.
Levy quoted the king as saying he recognized Spain’s past mistakes and the resultant tragedy visited on the Jewish people.” The king told me that this statement may astonish many people,” Levy said.
“The king is courageous enough to recognize” the wrongs done the Jews in 1492 and said Spain “looks forward to a partnership with the Jews and Israel,” Levy reported.
He said he and the king discussed the situation in the Middle East and both agreed that King Hussein of Jordan and King Hassan of Morocco are under heavy pressure from Islamic fundamentalists.
The Israeli foreign minister also met Wednesday in Madrid with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez Marquez, who he said accepted an invitation to visit Israel next fall.
“So far, the meetings I had in Spain met all our expectations,” Levy said. He said no controversial subjects were raised by either Gonzalez or Foreign Minister Francisco Fernandez Ordonez, with whom Levy met on Tuesday.
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