Dr. Rolf Pauls, West Germany’s first Ambassador to Israel, arrived at Lydda Airport today and declared that his arrival as “representative of the German President and nation” was “a touching moment for me.”
Special security precautions had been arranged at the airport for his arrival but only one person, a woman identified as a survivor of the Nazi holocaust, was present to protest his appearance.
Dr. Pauls said in his statement that “the past should not be forgotten, even for a minute, but we have to look forward to the future.” He added that he would do “everything possible to make many young Germans and Israelis meet.”
He was asked by one of the newsmen, whether, considering his past–which included service as an officer in the German army during World War II–he was the right man for the diplomatic post in Israel. He replied he would try to prove his suitability for the task.
He also said that Israeli-German economic negotiations would begin after he presented his credentials to President Shazar next week. In the negotiations which led to the exchange of diplomatic relations, West Germany pledged long-term economic aid to Israel.
Dr. Pauls, who was greeted at the airport by Yehuda Gaulan, Israel’s Chief of Protocol, went directly to the Sheraton Hotel in Tel Aviv, where he and other West German Embassy members have established temporary residence. He was preceded in arrival in Israel by three Embassy staff members and Dr. Alexander Toeroek, the counsellor for the Embassy.
At the same time that Dr. Pauls was arriving in Israel, Asher Ben-Nathan, the Israeli Ambassador-Designate to West Germany, arrived at the Paris airport enroute to Bonn. The Israeli diplomat is scheduled to arrive in West Germany Monday and will present his credentials next week.
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.
