Spain, which formally becomes a member of the European Economic Community (EEC) next January, is being pressed by French and other parliamentarians to establish diplomatic relations with Israel before that date.
Thirty-two members of the French Chamber of Deputies, 24 members of the Senate and three members of the Parliament of Europe, all members of mainstream political parties, except the Communist Party, have signed a motion to that effect.
It says: “It is inconceivable that an EEC member which will one day preside over the Community for six months, as all member states do, will have no diplomatic relations with Israel which concluded an Association Agreement with the Community back in 1975.”
The Spanish government has promised to establish diplomatic ties with Israel soon, though it has not said exactly when. Theo Klein, president of the Representative Council of Major French Jewish Organizations (CRIF), sent a letter to King Juan Carlos II of Spain last week asking him to intervene to see that the Spanish government honors its pledge.
Klein noted in his letter that Spain and world Jewry recently joined in honoring Maimonides, the Spanish-born Jewish philosopher of the 12th and 13th centuries, for his contribution to European civilization, and it is an apt time to establish diplomatic relations between Spain and Israel.
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