Canada’s Foreign Minister Says Embassy Move “a Long Range Goal

The Canadian government has made clear that while it intends to honor Prime Minister Joe Clark’s election campaign promise to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, this will not be done immediately and not before Canada takes under consideration “the impact of a move”

That position was stated officially here by the new Minister of State for External Affairs, Flora MacDonald, following an hour-long meeting with the ambassadors of eight Arab countries who vehemently expressed opposition to the move. Clark did not attend the meeting held late Thursday night. Ms. MacDonald declared, in a prepared statement that “there is no intention to go back on the promise to relocate the embassy” but “it is not among my priorities…We want to make sure the goal we want to reach is achieveable. ” She said her government viewed it as “a long-range goal.”

WILL NOT TAKE SIDES OR ‘PRE-JUDGE’ ISSUE

She pledged that the “government will also consider the impact of a (embassy) move on Canada’s role in international peace-keeping and on peace talks underway between Israel and Egypt. We have made it clear that we would not wish any move we make in this matter to be construed as taking sides in the on-going negotiations or as pre-judging the broader terms of a comprehensive peace settlement between all countries in the Middle East.” MacDonald explained that the Canadian government’s goal is “not simply to settle the question of Jerusalem as far as Canada is concerned but to contribute if we can to a broader resolution of this most sensitive of the issues outstanding between Israel and the Arab countries.” She said Parliament would be informed when a decision was reached, adding, “We do not have it in mind to act either precipitiously or without deliberation.”

Meanwhile, Philip Givens, president of the Canadian Zionist Federation, told members of the CZF national executive committee meeting in Toronto today that he had a telephone call from a senior member of the Canadian government assuring him that Clark has no intention of retreating from his promise. Givens did not identify the government official but quoted him as saying the decision would be implemented in the foreseeable future.

MacDonald displayed some equivocation on the matter of the embassy move during a Canadian Broadcasting Co. radio interview Thursday morning when she said “it is not…a question which can be settled the day after elections” and that “Our policy will take into account the interests and viewpoints of the United States and the Arab countries. “She made her remarks as pressure against the move mounted not only from the Arab quarters but from the Canadian business community. The difference between her radio interview and her statement after meeting Thursday night with the Arab envoys is that the latter was issued in the form of an official document clearly armed at calming the new government’s first international controversy. MacDonald met with the ambassadors of Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia.

Noureddine Hasnoaui, the Moroccan Ambassador, who is dean of the diplomatic corps in Ottawa, headed the delegation. He told reporters afterwards that the envoys had asked Ms. MacDonald to reconsider the move. He warned that if the Canadian government acted to transfer its embassy, “the Arabs will be obliged to take appropriate measures to safeguard their rights.” He called the proposed move an infringement on the sovereignty of Arab territory.

U.S. ACCUSED OF ‘PRESSURE’ ON CANADA

(In New York, Friday , Howard M. Squadron, president of the American Jewish Congress, accused the Carter Administration of putting “Pressure” on Prime Minister Clark to reverse his decision on the embassy. In a telegram to President Carter, Squadron referred to “statements by former Canadian Premier Pierre Elliott Trudeau and news stories currently appearing in the Canadian press (which) indicate that your administration has energetically applied pressure upon two Canadian governments not to move the Canadian Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.” He said, “It is, we believe, a serious error in political judgment that the United States continues to refuse to accept the fact that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. But it is altogether deplorable that we should seek to go even further by seeking to prevent others from accepting the reality of Jerusalem’s place in Israel.”)