— The military attaches of the four major European Economic Community (EEC) countries — Britain, France, Germany and Italy — recently declined an Israel Defense Force (IDF) invitation to watch military maneuvers on the Golan Heights. At the end of last week, the four officers held a stiff meeting with military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Yehashua Saguy, on the subject of their absence from the exercise, held some weeks ago.
At least one of the attaches said he came away from the meeting with the impression that Saguy had hinted he would not invite the EEC attaches to future was games even inside the “Green Line.”
An EEC diplomatic source said that if that was the case there would be contacts on the highest levels between Israel and ECC governments and there could be “retaliation” against the IDF attaches in London, Paris, Bonn and Rome.
The attaches and their embassies mode it clear unofficially to Israel government circles that their absence from the exercise was intended to express their governments’ dissatisfaction with present Israeli policies — and especially with the proposal currently being canvassed in bath government and opposition parties to annex the Golan.
CITES CONSEQUENCES OF ANNEXATION
One ECC diplomat explained that the attaches’ absence ought to serve as a clear message to Israel that if the annexation idea became law, relations with Western Europe would suffer heavily. He added that the attaches had not undertaken their absence as a concerted and demonstrative act: each had given his separate pretext for staying away.
But it is reliably understood that there was prior consultation between the four leading ECC embassies here, and, in two cases at least, there were specific instructions from the home government for the attache to stay away.
There have been precedents in the past of military attaches attending IDF maneuvers across the “Green Line.” Since the IDF occupies these territories legally — as military occupier — the attaches, as distinct from the diplomats, are entitled by international law to pursue their duties there.
POSSIBLE EFFECT ON THE ‘GOLAN LOBBY’
The attaches of the U.S., Canada, the Philippines and some Latin American countries principled in the Golan maneuver.
Political observers here are wondering what effect the attaches’ boycott will have on the thinking of Labor and Likud Knesseters who are members of the so called “Golan Lobby” and have supported the idea of annexation legislation. Some pundits detect a current of cooling of enthusiasm within this lobby, in the wake of the on going adverse repercussions triggered by the Jerusalem law.
Meanwhile, there were reports here today that Costa Rica will be the fifth Latin American state — after Venezuela, Uruguay, Ecuador and Chile — to move its embassy to Tel Aviv. But Israel’s Foreign Ministry said today it had been given no such statement of intention. However, it had been informed that the government of Costa Rica will want to discuss and consider the legal aspects of its embassy’s remaining in Jerusalem following the passage of the Jerusalem law.
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