Today’s sudden and unexpected resignation of Harold Wilson as Britain’s Prime Minister deprives Israel and the Anglo-Jewish community of a close and tested friend. His abrupt departure at the age of 60, 12 years after he first became Premier, will cause as much concern among Israeli Labor leaders as in his own British Labor Party.
One of the last foreign visitors to call on him before today’s announcement was Yigal Allon, Israel’s Foreign Minister, who broke a return trip from Mexico to see Wilson at his country weekend home. Last week, Wilson met Abba Eban, Allon’s predecessor. Resident Israeli Ambassadors always found Wilson’s door open to them.
Because of his pro-Israel attitude, Wilson was often distrusted in the Arab world. However he never apologized for his links with Israel which in the end, were accepted by Arab leaders. They were even praised by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt who was here a few months ago. Wilson was due to have gone to Cairo on an official visit in May.
From the Jewish viewpoint, Wilson’s big achievement was transforming the relationship between the British Labor Party and Israel from one of distrust and bitter memories of the late Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin into one of warm friendship, which became all the more striking when Israel was diplomatically isolated.
This correspondent remembers the impact, in 1963, when the newly elected Labor leader announced that when Labor regained power “there will be no broken promises this time.” Within a year, Wilson was Prime Minister.
JEWISH AFFILIATIONS NOTED
Wilson’s Jewish affiliations are no secret. Both his solicitor. Lord Goodman, and his doctor. Sir Julius Stone, are Jewish. Wilson spoke frequently at Zionist functions. Among his close government colleagues are avowed Zionists such as Harold Lever, his senior economic advisor, and Gerald Kaufman, now Minister in Charge of Aviation. Wilson himself was a genuine admirer of Israel’s democratic socialism. One of his sons did a stint as a volunteer at Kibbutz Vagur.
It was easier for Wilson to get on with Israelis if only because Britain had lost its great power role in the Middle East. He himself presided over the end of Britain’s East-of-Suez role with the withdrawal from Aden at the end of 1967.
In the Six-Day War, Wilson and other ministers said they were ready to support an international naval force to break Egypt’s blockade of the Tiran Straits. But the idea fizzled. Nasser mined the straits, and war broke out.
After the June war, Wilson’s Labor government focussed its Middle East policy on the United Nations, trying to compensate with diplomatic experience for its loss of global influence. The result was Security Council Resolution 242, a masterpiece of ambiguity which, nine years later, is still referred to as the framework of Middle East diplomacy.
GOVERNMENT DISAPPOINTED ISRAEL
It is easy to exaggerate Wilson’s personal impact on Britain’s Middle East policies. His sympathies did not prevent Britain from reneging on a promise to sell Israel Chieftain tanks, though Wilson is said to have offered Harrier jump-jet fighters which Israel did not want. He has always had a healthy respect for Arab oil power and never personally offended Arab leaders. His government disappointed Israel by supporting the United Nations condemnation of her following the fire in the El Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem set by a mentally ill Australian Christian.
In recent years, as a leading figure in the Socialist International, Wilson has given Israel most cause for gratitude. In the wake of the Yom Kippur War, when pro-Arab appeasement was sweeping Western Europe, Wilson provided then Premier Golda Meir with a much needed political platform when he hosted a special emergency meeting of socialist leaders in London.
He was also responsive, in office and in the opposition, to the plight of Soviet Jews and other dissidents. A close acquaintance of Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, Wilson has intervened frequently behind the scenes on behalf of head-pressed individuals.
Anglo-Jewish leaders will regret his resignation because of his unswerving opposition to all forms of racial prejudice in Britain itself. Nevertheless, like his old friend, Mrs. Meir, Wilson is not leaving the political scene entirely. He will remain on the back benches of the House of Commons where his moral authority will probably be all the greater as a result of today’s stunning decision to resign.
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.
