Outgoing Rumanian Ambassador Valeriu Georgescu said here last night that he hoped relations between his country and Israel would become even closer and that the scheme reuniting Rumanian-Jewish families with their relatives in Israel would be speeded up in the near future. Georgescu spoke at a farewell reception given in his honor by Gideon Rafael, director general of the Israel Foreign Ministry.
His share in improving relations between Rumania and Israel was praised by Absorption Minister Natan Peled who noted that there are some 300,000 Jews in Israel from Rumania. Rumania is the only Communist bloc country that did not sever diplomatic relations with Israel after the June, 1967 Six-Day War. Georgescu, who has served in this country for six years, was first accredited as Minister and was elevated to Ambassadorial rank in Aug. 1969 when Rumania and Israel raised their relations from Legation to Embassy level.
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.
