Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, indicated last night in answer to a question during a television interview that Israel did not favor suspension of South Africa from the United Nations because of that country’s apartheid policy.
She was interviewed on the local educational television station. In a session during which most of the questions dealt with Israel’s cooperation with new African states in the field of economic and social development, one of the interviewers asked the question: “Should the United Nations suspend South Africa and, if such a move is made, will Israel support it?”
She replied that the UN must consider very carefully whether more pressure can be applied upon a country when that country is “a part of the family of nations or outside.”
Asked about the criticism against Israel made last Saturday by South African Premier Hendrik Verwoerd, Mrs. Meir said that the entire matter was a “serious and tragic situation, ” “I am sorry he does not understand our position, ” she stated. “The Jewish people are concerned whenever a discussion arises involving discrimination because of color, race or religion. We cannot just sit back and accept apartheid.”
Tomorrow, Mrs. Meir will confer with Andrei A. Gromyko, Soviet Foreign Minister. Today she met with Paul Martin, Canadian Minister for External Affairs, acquainting him with Israel’s stand on various international issues. Tomorrow morning she is scheduled to deliver her major address to the UN General Assembly. It will be a speech in which she will state the position of the Israel Government on all major foreign affairs policies, including not only Arab-Israeli issues but also questions of general concern to the world.
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