Former Premier Golda Meir revealed here today that she had gone to “a certain country” and held 14 hours of talks with its President, Premier and Foreign Minister, who told her they were confident that President Anwar Sadat sought an Egypt-Israel meeting at the top level. She agreed at once, saying this was the happiest news she had heard in years. Technical arrangements were made for further communications to set the meeting. Her hosts said a firm answer should come through from Cairo within 10 days–but nothing further was ever heard.
Mrs. Meir told the story at a luncheon in her honor by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Observers immediately concluded that the “certain country” was Rumania, which Mrs. Meir visited on a sudden invitation from President Nicolae Ceacescu in May 1972.
At the luncheon, former Foreign Minister Abba Eban also stressed that the previous government had undertaken many and varied peace initiatives. When the time came for these to be publicized, he said, Israeli citizens would be surprised by their number and their variety and they would convincingly disprove accusations that the previous government was not zealous enough in its peace efforts.
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.
