Kohl Says He Intends to Strengthen Germany’s Relations with Israel

Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany, declaring that he intends to “strengthen and intensify” his country’s relations with Israel, told a delegation of American Jewish leaders at a meeting here yesterday “that I fully support the Camp David peace process and I conveyed this view to the American officials in Washington with whom I met earlier this week.”

Kohl also pledged that he would not recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization. He said he looked forward to visiting Israel in his official capacity next year.

The delegation he met with at the Plaza Hotel was headed by Julius Berman, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Berman described the session as “warm and cordial” and said the Jewish leaders were “deeply pleased by the welcome we received and the discussion that followed.”

Kohl, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), took office at the end of September. His new government, in partnership with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), succeeded the Social Democratic government headed by former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. Kohl described himself to the Jewish leaders as a “spiritual grandson of former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

He was referring to the lo’e West German leader, the first post-war Chancellor, who signed the reparations agreement with Israel which set the stage for a rapprochement between Germany and the Jewish people.

With respect to his government’s relations with the Arab countries, Kohl said Germany traditionally had close cultural and scientific links with the Moslem world and would continue to maintain those ties. He hinted that he would be prepared to play an intermediary role in any confidential Israeli-Arab dialogue.

Recalling his recent meeting in Bonn with Knesset Speaker Menachem Savidor on the occasion of the convention of the German-Israel Friendship Association, the Chancellor observed that while seeking closer relations with the Jewish State, “we cannot back everything that Israel does.” But he was emphatic in stating his position on the PLO.

“You know my position. I refuse to recognize or receive the PLO unless fundamental changes occur on the Arab scene — changes which I cannot now foresee,” he told the Jewish leaders.