A special Export-Import Bank mission to Israel, cancelled when the Israeli Sinai campaign started, will probably leave next month for an on-the-spot study of Israel’s request for a $75, 000, 000 loan, it was learned today. The decision to send the mission followed discussions between Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban and Samuel C. Waugh, Export-Import Bank president, initiated by Mr. Eban last week.
Resumption of loan negotiations followed the lifting last week of the American ban on travel to Israel in the restoration of normal diplomatic and economic relations by the Eisenhower Administration with Israel.
Israel wants the $75, 000,000 credit for developing irrigation projects on the coastal plain. The mission is expected to leave with instructions to determine whether Israel has enough ground water to support the irrigation project and whether there is any question about Israel’s ability to repay. Repayment obligations on loans of $135, 000,000 from the bank in 1954 have been met on schedule.
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