Both the Italian Government and the Jewish community of Rome are making preparations for the reception of Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett who is expected to arrive here this week as a guest of the Italian Government. During his three-day visit here, Mr. Sharett will pay a call on Pope Pius XII.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will present a luncheon in honor of the Israeli Minister. He will also confer with President Luigi Einaudi and Premier de Gasperi, as well as with other government officials. At the Israeli legation a reception will be held in his honor and the leading personalities of Italian cultural and political life have been invited to be presented to Mr. Sharett. The local Jewish community will pay host to the Minister and he will inspect community institutions, including the Great Synagogue of Rome.
It is expected that the conversations between Minister Sharett and Italian officials will cover a number of economic problems, including the disposition of Israeli assets frozen in Italy, the settlement of claims for property stolen by the fascists from Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis, and improvement in trade relations. In the matter of restitution, Israel seeks to obtain compensation equal to that granted countries which signed the peace treaty with Italy.
A spokesman for the Italian Foreign Ministry has stated that in preparation for Mr. Sharett’s visit, the Italian Government is collecting data on the value of Italian property frozen in Israel and Jewish assets blocked in Italy. He said that Italy is acting “in full and friendly cooperation” with Israel and that Italy feels that it would be desirable to reach an overall settlement of both problems.
It was learned here that Israel hopes to establish a bilateral commercial relationship with Italy. At present, Israel purchases a number of articles from Italy, but the latter buys nothing from the Jewish State. It is known that the Italian view is that at present Israel produces nothing that Italy needs and that in view of this situation Italy is prepared to grant preferential treatment to Israel as a purchaser.
In addition, Israel will seek to obtain preferential anchorage rates for its vessels in Italian ports–such as are now granted to some other nations. Italian officials have expressed readiness to grant such rates, although Israel cannot respond in kind since it has established the same rates for the vessels of all nations.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
