Kuwait Ends Secondary Israel Boycott

Kuwait no longer blacklists companies in the United States and other countries that trade with Israel because of its urgent need for help with postwar reconstruction, the country’s U.N. mission said Monday.

Although officials emphasized that Kuwait’s primary boycott against trade with Israel remains in place, its easing of the blacklist undermines the solidarity of the Arab world’s long boycott against the Jewish nation.

“During reconstruction, we have traded with companies that have made other agreements with the Israeli government,” said Masoud F. M. Fehaid, press officer of Kuwait’s U.N. mission.

“We have made many agreements and bought a lot of equipment from a lot of companies which in the past were boycotted because of their trading with Israel,” he said in a telephone interview.

Fehaid added that the boycott has also been eased against British and French companies. He emphasized that the primary boycott against dealing with Israel remains in effect.

The World Jewish Congress had earlier released what it said was a May 30 letter from the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, Edward W. (Skip) Gnehm, to Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), stating that Kuwait had eased its boycott of U.S. companies dealing with Israel.