Discussions on loans to Israel for specific projects have already taken place between Bank officials and Israeli representatives since a recent decision by the State Department declaring that more stable conditions now exist in Israel, it was revealed here today by Sidney Sherwood, a spokesman for the Export-Import Bank.
Sherwood emphasized that the original Israeli application for a $100,000,000 loan, although broken down into certain categories, had not been presented in sufficient detail for discussion of specific project loans. These details, he emphasized, are necessary to determine to what degree the credit would contribute to the productive capacity of Israel and in turn to the improvement of American export trade.
On the other hand, it was learned here today that officials of the Export-Import Bank, in their discussions with Israeli representatives, have never indicated that the information furnished to them with regard to projected uses of either a general purpose or specific project loan was incomplete or was not the type of information required. The reason given to the representatives of the Israeli mission here in August for suspension of Israel’s loan application was a State Department ruling that political conditions in Israel were too unstable at the moment to permit consideration of a loan. Since the decision to suspend the talks was described to them as based solely on the question of political stability, Israeli representatives made no attempt to revise the type or amount of information supplied to the Bank in the original application.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
