The defeat of Premier Anker Joergensen and his Social Democratic Party in the national elections may weaken Denmark’s long-time pro-Israel policies in the Middle East, observers here said today. Joergensen personally was staunchly pro-Israel. In addition. the appearance of six Communist deputies in the Danish Parliament after an absence of 17 years could bode ill for Danish-Israeli relations, they said.
The consensus here after the election results is that Israel cannot expect particular support from either of the two new parties voted into office. Both are primarily concerned with Denmark’s internal problems and are unwilling to see the Danish public suffer from the fall out of the Middle East conflict.
In another development here, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) announced today that it will cut back its flights to Tel Aviv in the coming weeks. A spokesman for the airline said the move was “strictly commercial” and in no way directed against Israel or a surrender to Arab pressure. He said the cutback would affect most Middle Eastern countries.
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