Menachem Begin who objected vehemently to Israeli diplomatic relations with West Germany when he was an opposition leader, will maintain close and cordial ties with the Bonn government when he becomes Premier, informed sources said today. The sources based their views on comments by Likud leaders and foreign diplomats here.
Begin had a friendly conversation with a high ranking German diplomat recently and is expected to welcome West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt when the latter visits Israel in December on an invitation extended by Premier Yitzhak Rabin.
Top Likud figures have assured German diplomats that there will be no changes in Israeli-German relations under a Likud regime. When the German Ambassador, Per Fischer, telephoned Likud’s number two man, Simcha Ehrlich, to congratulate him on Likud’s election victory last month, Ehrlich assured the envoy that there would be no cooling off in relations. Gen. Ezer Weizman, slated to be Defense Minister in a Likud government and Dr. Eliahu Ben Elisar, Likud’s information officer, have given similar assurances, the sources said.
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