ABSTRACT
Many among The Six, mainly the foreign ministries of "the big three," considered negotiations over a limited trade agreement too great a concession. At the end of June 1961, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem convened a special meeting, attended by senior officials from all the country's ministries concerned with economic affairs, to reach a final decision regarding the path Israel should adopt. Levi Eshkol therefore believed that Israel's main aim should be to pass a decision in favor of negotiations in the Council of Ministers. On April 3, the question of negotiations with Israel was again raised in the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers did not favor negotiations with Israel. Rey believed that The Six would, at this stage, prefer to relinquish the privilege guaranteed by article 111 in order to avoid any impression that the preliminary talks with Israeli experts were a form of negotiations.
