White House Aide, Israelis Reported in Vital Policy Discussions

White House aide Myer Feldman left Israel today after a five-day visit during which he conferred with key Israeli officials and reportedly urged them to drop any plans for renewing at the current United Nations General Assembly a proposal for direct Israel-Arab peace talks.

The White House aide insisted at the airport, however, that “this was purely a private visit” and that his talks with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Foreign Minister Golda Meir “were informal. ” He said the talks “did not touch on missiles, refugees or direct peace talks problems. ” He added that he would meet with President Kennedy this week but that “all I will tell him will be how I enjoyed my trips in Israel during this visit. “

Despite the airport statement, it was learned that, during his informal talks with Weizmann Institute personalities and other Israeli statesmen, Mr. Feldman had expressed the view that, in view of the Cuban crisis and such internal American affairs as the integration struggle in Mississippi and the Congressional elections, the time was not ripe for Israel to press for direct peace talks at the United Nations. It was also reported that he said that the White House understood Israel’s fears concerning the Arab refugee problem.

Just prior to his departure, Mr. Feldman met with Finance Minister Levi Eshkol. The two men reportedly discussed various aspects of financing the purchase of Hawk supersonic anti-aircraft missiles, which the United States has agreed to sell to Israel. It had been reported previously that the United States had decided to assist Israel with the financial problems of such purchases.