West German Defense Minister Rupert Scholz, here on a three-day official visit to Israel, says that from his various meetings with officials in the defense field, he has sensed the country’s determination to secure peace.
After touring military industry plants Monday, Scholz attended a reception in his honor given by Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Both Rabin and Scholz praised the special relations between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany, dating back to the historic meeting between the late David Ben-Gurion and the late German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
Such sensitive issues as German construction of submarines for Israel and West Germany’s military aid to Arab states were to be discussed at private meetings between the two defense ministers.
Scholz said in Bonn last Friday that his government is doing everything in its power to prevent German companies from helping Arab nations produce poison gas or develop missiles.
the minister spoke at a meeting with journalists prior to his visit to Israel.
According to Scholz, the government already has toughened its regulations to control unlawful exports. He added that if these proved inefficient, more action would be needed.
This last remark came in the context of revelations in the last week that major German companies were heavily involved in helping Iraq build missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to targets as far as 620 miles from launch.
Scholz also characterized Israeli development and production of defense-related facilities as having reached a very high level, although he denied that his visit to Israel would include discussion of joint defense projects.
(JTA Bonn correspondent David Kantor contributed to this report.)
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.
