President Louis Alerta Monge of Costa Rica says in an address to Jewish leaders in Panama City that he will “not give into diplomatic terrorism” and move his nation’s Embassy out of Jerusalem. Egypt severs diplomatic ties with Costa Rica and El Salvador for the recent Embassy moves.
With debate centering on a proposed Congressional resolution urging Reagan to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the State Department asserts that its decision on the locale of the Embassy will not be influenced by threats from Arab countries, although the Administration objects to the call to move the Embassy.
Israel begins efforts through diplomatic channels to obtain the release of three members of the Israeli mission in Beirut captured by Syrian forces after their car apparently strays off into Syrian held territory north of the Lebanon capital.
The first national conference of Moroccan Jewish communities is held in Rabat drawing some 500 participants and observers from abroad, including prominent American and French Jews, and most significantly, a 35 member Israeli delegation, II of whom are Knesset members representing both the Likud government coalition and the opposition Labor alignment.
The Reagan Administration formally withdraws its request for Congressional approval of a $220 million plan to arm and equip a Jordanian strike force, pending further review.
The Administration’s deputy trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, tells a Congressional panel that the U.S. stands to benefit substantially from the establishment of an American-Israel Free Trade Area that would eliminate all duties and tariff barriers on trade between the two countries.
Reagan uses special Presidential authority under the Arms Export Control Act to bypass Congressional review of arms sales and announces that the U.S. has sold Saudi Arabia 400 shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 200 launchers for the weapons to be used to protect Saudi oil fields and shipping in the Persian Gulf, threatened by stepped up fighting in the Iran-Iraq war.
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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.
