Mann Says U.S. Pressure on Canada over Embassy Move Would Be’ Improper’

Theodore Mann, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said here today that it would be “very improper” for the Carter Administration to pressure the Canadian government to renege on Prime Minister Joe Clark’s election campaign promise to move Canada’s Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem: Mann said that if rumors to that effect proved to be true, he would express his feelings to the Administration “in the most effective possible way.”

Mann arrived here today at the head of a group of eight American-Jewish leaders on a three-day visit mainly to study the issue of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. The Prime Minister’s Office said Premier Menachem Begin will brief the group on recent developments including the talks with Egypt on Palestinian autonomy and the settlements issue. The Americans will also meet with Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, Minister of Agriculture Ariel Sharon and Interior Minister Yosef Burg who heads the Israeli delegation to the autonomy talks. They are expected to tour the West Bank and visit the site of Alon Moreh, the controversial settlement near the Arab town of Nablus.

Questioned by reporters at Ben Gurion Airport, Mann refused to describe the attitude of American-Jewry on the settlements issue or to say whether his group was bringing a message to Israeli leaders from the U.S. government. According to a Jerusalem Post report from Washington today, the Carter Administration has been urging friends of Israel in Congress and elsewhere to try to influence the Israeli government to soften its present hard-line policies toward the West Bank inhabitants.

American sources here said privately that the recent clashes between Jewish settlers and West Bank Arabs and tightened security measures by the Israeli Army have severely damaged the atmosphere on the West Bank at a delicate stage in the diplomatic process.