The shipping firm Aker Co., which was involved in the Cherbourg affair of December 1971, has received a warning from Arab countries, according to the Norwegian daily newspaper “Afton Posten” that Arab companies will embargo oil shipments to the firm if it does not break off relations with Israel. The Aker Co. was involved in the incident where five ships sailed out of Cherbourg harbor to Israel at the height of the French arms embargo. The five were missile-carrying craft built in France for Israel’s Navy but undelivered because of the embargo. On Christmas day, 1971, their Israeli crews spirited them out of Cherbourg harbor under a neutral flag and brought them to Israel a week later.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.