Strongly criticized for supporting the U.S. air strike against Libya, the British government is trying to restore its credibility by urging Washington to boost efforts to tackle the roots of the Middle East conflict.
This has emerged in official press briefings last week as mass demonstrations took place both in Britain and on the continent over the Libyan affair.
It was pointed out that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would be raising the Middle East situation with President Reagan when the two leaders meet at the Tokyo economic summit next week, While supporting the attack on Libya, Britain is simultaneously critical over what it sees as America’s lack of urgency towards continued peace efforts.
This attitude may also be displayed during Thatcher’s visit to Israel in the second half of next month. The British Foreign Office is believed to be anxious lest Britain appears to have thrown in its lot entirely with the Americans or, even worse, with the Israelis.
This, it is suggested, compromises not only Britain’s own international standing but also that of the European Economic Community, which for years has aspired to a separate posture on the Arab-Israeli issue.
Although the Israelis are likely to applaud Thatcher’s stout support of the Americans, during her visit she is therefore likely to repay them with emphatic statements on the need for Palestinian self-determination and with calls to evacuate the bulk of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for peace.
In the last few days, Britain took the lead in urging her 11 EEC partners to take steps against Libyan, such as closing her People’s Bureaus (Embassies) and restricting the movements of Libyan nationals.
This achieved a measure of success last week when EEC Ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, agreed on a package of anti-Libyan measures, despite hesitations by Greece, the EEC’s most pro-Arab country. Britain announced last Friday that it was curtailing the studies of more than 300 Libyan airplane, engineering and maintenance students and a number of airline pilot trainees. The announcement warned that the students would be deported if they do not leave voluntarily.
Other European nations took similar anti-Libyan steps. In Paris, the Defense Ministry said it would reinforce anti-aircraft missile defenses on the Mediterranean coast to guard against possible Libyan attacks. The French government also announced that it would reduce the number of Libyan diplomats in the country.
In Madrid, the government ordered the expulsion of three Libyan diplomats and eight Libyan teachers and students. It said that eight other Libyans were being expelled for security reasons. In addition, West Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands have announced plans to expel Libyan nationals.
Britain’s most persuasive argument was the threat that lack of EEC action against Libya would increase the likelihood of further American military action, a prospect which some EEC states seem to regard with almost as much horror as further terrorist outrages on their own soil.
Here in Britain, the doubts about the American air strike on Libya are not limited either to opposition parties or to large sections of public opinion. They are also prevalent among sections of Thatcher’s own party and senior members of her Cabinet.
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