Simcha Dinitz, Israel’s new Ambassador to the United States, said today that there was no such thing as a “summit or peak” in U.S.-Israel relations, but that relations between the two countries were on a “plateau and we must strive ever higher.”
The 44-year-old diplomat who presented his credentials to President Nixon at the White House yesterday, addressed the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. It was his first appearance before American Jewish leaders or any Jewish audience since coming to the U.S. as Israel’s Ambassador.
Dinitz said his meeting with Nixon was “friendly.” He said his conversation at the White House yesterday underscored his belief that “I was not talking to people who close their eyes or their minds to Israel’s needs or who are about to change their basic policies.”
Ambassador Dinitz warned, however, that “no basic issues had been resolved in terms of Israel’s desire for peace with its Arab neighbors and that Israel’s foremost priority remains the maintenance of its economic, military and social strength.” He also emphasized the need for “more dialogue” between American Jews and Israel.
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