Flora MacDonald, Minister for External Affairs in the new Canadian government of Prime Minister Joe Clark, said yesterday, shortly after taking her oath of office, that “The Canadian Embassy in Israel will be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a period of time that is containable. I cannot give you any date, “she said, “but it will be done as Mr. Clark has already indicated.” Clark said, during the election campaign, that if his party won the election, it would move the Embassy to Jerusalem.
Miss MacDonald added that she would soon be looking at ways the move could be carried out. Among her many briefings will be one from her department’s officials urging caution and delay in implementing the pledge as it would be unsettling to the present negotiations over the future of Palestinians living on the West Bank, it was hinted by officials of her department.
Miss MacDonald said the external affairs department-should be “very much connected with our commercial affairs, “which was understood to mean she believed that Canada’s foreign trade policies should be in harmony with the policies of the external affairs department. One of the major beneficiaries of this new trend in external policy is the State of Israel through the Canadian international Development Agency, a government body, providing financial and technical assistance to Israel.
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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.
