Prime Minister Brian Mulroney last week rejected Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s request that the Canadian government relocate its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Following a meeting last Friday, Mulroney cited the present status of Israeli-Arab relations and the still unresolved status of Jerusalem as reasons for his decision.
When Joe Clark, External Affairs Minister, was the Conservative Prime Minister, he said he would move the Canadian Embassy to Jerusalem. But this decision set off a storm of protests from Arab countries and the government had to back down.
Meanwhile, the prospects of a Canadian contingent of some 100 troops to participate in the peacekeeping force in Sinai seemed more promising. “We expect to have an answer for Israel in a few weeks,” Clark said after meeting with Shamir.
Shamir had been pressing the Canadians to replace the Australian contingent of the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. Canada already has 225 peacekeeping troops on the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
