Prime Minister Ariel Sharon telephoned author Amos Oz and congratulated him on winning the 2005 Goethe Prize.

Prime Minister Sharon said that this was a major achievement for Oz, the first Israeli to have won the Prize, expressed his enthusiasm over the great interest in Israeli literature and emphasized that he sees this both as very important and a great contribution to Israel.

Oz thanked Prime Minister Sharon and expressed the wish that the government would assist Israeli authors in translating their works into foreign languages.  The Prime Minister promised that the matter would be looked into soon.