Canadian Jewish Leaders Ask Government to Re-examine Middle East Policy

A delegation representing the Canadian Jewish community, asked Mitchell Sharp, the Secretary of State for External Affairs and Acting Prime Minister today for a re-examination of Canadian foreign policy with regard to the Middle East and a “new diplomatic initiative” to seek a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The delegation expressed Canadian Jewry’s deep apprehension over what it described as the seriously deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Saul Hayes, executive vice president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, pointed out that since the Six-Day War in 1967, there had been a steady erosion of support for Israel among the Western powers while, at the same time, there was the Soviet Union’s increasingly militant support of the Arab states. These developments, he said, faced the world “with a very dismal prospect of stability in the Middle East.”

Speaking for the delegation, composed of leaders of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Federated Zionist Organization of Canada, Mr. Hayes proposed that the Canadian Government undertake a new examination of its foreign policy with respect to the Middle East, based on “present-day realities” rather than on the actions of the United Nations. He declared that the alignment of forces within the United Nations made that body “an instrument of doubtful validity” in determining the future of Israel.

In view of the failure of the Four Power Initiative to find an acceptable solution to the conflict, the increasing ambivalence of the United States position and the inability of the United Nations to resolve the conflict, the delegation urged Canada to undertake a new diplomatic initiative.

Following an exchange of views, it was agreed that the delegation would submit policy proposals to the Canadian Government in the near future. During the meeting, Mr. Sharp who has actively sought to aid the Jewish population remaining in the Arab states, expressed his concern over the position of the Jews in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya. It was agreed that the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Department of External Affairs should continue their consultations with a view to ameliorating the plight of the Jews in those countries.