Israeli and American diplomats and technicians began discussions here yesterday on the radio transmitter the U.S. wants to erect in Israel to relay Voice of America broadcasts behind the Iron Curtain.
The initial talks concerned the legal aspects of the agreement between the two countries, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Experts from both will be inspecting possible sites for the transmitter today and tomorrow and the teams will resume their talks on Friday. One site mentioned is near Shivta, an ancient Nabatean ruin in the western Negev.
The Israeli delegation is headed by Hanan Baron, deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry. The American team is led by Robert Flatten, the Charge d’Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, and Walter Roberts, executive director of the Board of International Broadcasting.
Israel agreed recently, after considerable pressure from the Reagan Administration, to permit a VOA transmitter on Israeli soil. The purpose is to beam VOA programs to the Soviet Union and Communistbloc countries from a location where the Soviets will find it difficult to jam the signals. It was pointed out that Israel is geographically closer to the Soviet Union’s Central Asian provinces than Western Europe.
Some Israelis had objected to the transmitter on grounds that it would involve Israel in the superpowers” propaganda war.
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