Speaking “off the record and from the heart.” Canada’s Secretary of State for External Affairs, Don Jamieson, told the seventh annual conference of the Canada- Israel Committee here today that he has “a total acceptance of Israel’s desire for peace and the Israeli people’s total commitment to peace.” Therefore, he declared, “It is unreasonable to lean on Israel to make concessions just because it takes a little longer to make peace.”
“Who more than Israel has a vested interest in getting peace faster in the Middle East region?” Jameson asked. “But we must recognize that Israel is not ready to grasp an illusion of peace without the accompanying security because doing otherwise it might be forced to fight for its own life,” he said. He said he was “not pessimistic one moment because the Camp David negotiations lasted so long.”
Jamieson spoke extemporaneously for the most part at what was a belated celebration of Israel’s 30th anniversary. The only prepared portion of his remarks was an introductory paragraph in which he explained the policies of the government of Premier-Pierre Elliott Trudeau toward the Arab boycott of Israel. He said that “the implementation of the government’s anti-boycott principles and decisions had to proceed on the basis of a case-by-case examination.”
Jamieson acknowledged that “there were weaknesses we discovered in the implementation of government policies which had to be amended.” He cited as examples “negative certificates” which affirm “that the merchandise is not produced in Israel or statements of fact that the Canadian company does not trade with Israel.” He said these “had to be eliminated as inconsistent with our principles. We don’t like any kind of boycotts because as a nation we live on trade.”
Jamieson reviewed the international situation and observed that “the end of the Middle East tension will not have a world-wide influence on other trouble spots on earth.” He said it was too early to assess the effects of the revolution in Iran on Israel .He stated, however, “I am concerned with the role Israel is going to play in the world because Israel is an increasingly valuable ally of the West and Jews and non-Jews alike should see to it that Israel remains in the future a democratic society, an example for other nations and an ally of the Western world.”
Jamieson declared. “We in Canada must see to it that when Israel is making such tremendous sacrifices we should stand ready to help Israel with oil and material assistance. Israel has a great will to survive and no one in this country will tolerate any attempt on its sovereignty and security.”
Mordechai Shalev, Israel’s Ambassador to Canada, said Canada has always supported Israel against vilification at the United Nations, UNESCO and other world forums and supports the current peace process in the Middle East.
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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.
