Israel and Europe

By Jane Hunter

• Within hours of the Reagan Administration's bombing attack on Libya, thousands of Britons joined demonstrations against the raid and the Thatcher government's role in it. Angry crowds gathered in front of civic buildings in sleepy rural communities as well as in front of the US Embassy in London. And the reaction persisted. On January 2 demonstrators invaded the air base from which US aircraft took off to attack Libya.

• A letter to the editor from the West of Scotland Friends of Palestine caused the Glasgow city government to reconsider the permission it had granted the city's publicist to take paid leave for a week to be spent advising the Israeli town of Dimona. "Glasgow is a nuclear free zone, while Dimona is the site of Israel's nuclear reactor," the letter pointed out.

• Last March, two months after it established diplomatic ties with Israel, Spain accorded the Palestine Liberation Organization full diplomatic status.

• After Israel's October 1985 attack on PLO headquarters in Tunisia, the Italian government canceled upcoming meetings with Israeli officials. Prime Minister Craxi declared before the Italian parliament that he did not "contest the legitimacy of armed struggle" for the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

• During a 1985 trip to Ireland, Israeli President Chaim Herzog was hounded by pro-Palestinian demonstrators and by questions from the press about the assaults on Irish UNIFIL troops by the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army. Many of Herzog's appearances were canceled.

• Last May EC (European Community) countries reacted with anger when Israel called in their ambassadors to protest a scheduled meeting between the president of the EC Council of Ministers and the PLO. The Council President, at the time the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared that no Middle East settlement was possible without the participation of the PLO. While Israel has just signed a contract with terms not at all to its liking for its agricultural imports into the EC, the EC has made a separate arrangement to take the agricultural exports of the occupied West Bank and Gaza, in response to Israel's stranglehold on the Palestinian economy.

This list—it is representative, but by no means complete—can only evoke envy and depression in the hearts of American advocates of more balanced US Middle East policies. When compared to a steady stream of anti-Arab propaganda in the US, and the law restricting US officials from meeting with representatives of the PLO, European support for the Palestinian cause is great. The balanced approach of Western European governments to the Middle East is in striking contrast to that of the US, which increasingly supports Israel's interests in the region rather than defining a policy of its own.

Yet from the Palestinian perspective, despite their positive gestures, efforts by Europeans have been a negligible factor in resolving the on-going Middle East crisis. These Palestinians praise the EC's move on West Bank produce, but doubt that it will have any great impact.

Meanwhile, Israel's stock in West European capitals is rising and it is not likely that the current Iran-contra scandal will impede that upward climb. Europeans are less surprised by Israel's preeminent role in the Iran-contra affair than they are astonished to learn about the secret life of America's President, the "leader of the free world" who enjoined them not to deal with "terrorist states" and had the whole ensemble of industrialized nations sign a declaration against terrorism in Tokyo last year.

Economic Factors

West European leaders have been reluctant to sever lucrative economic and political connections with Syria, Libya, and Iran, despite the Middle East-related terrorist attacks which have rocked their airports and shopping districts. This pragmatism explains why European doors that were slammed shut after Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon have gradually opened again, despite Israel's 1985 attack on Tunisia and the increasing level of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Another reason for Israel's enhanced status is the influence of the United States over its NATO allies and the extraordinary willingness of the Reagan Administration to run political interference for the Jewish state.

To the regret of British activists who took part in the demonstrations against the attack on Libya, there was scant focus on the reason that young Palestinians might be available—for hire or as volunteers—to perpetrate violent deeds in Europe. Rather, the protests focused on Mrs. Thatcher's devotion to the Reagan Administration—described by opposition leader Neil Kinnock as "sycophancy."

Thatcher's Support for Israel

Critics in the United Kingdom pointed out that Israel was the only other nation to applaud the attack on Libya, and that underscored Prime Minister Thatcher's own special links to Israel. On her way to the premiership, Thatcher was chair of the local Friends of Israel organization in her constituency. During her tenure as Prime Minister, an organization of "Conservative Friends of Israel" has wielded unprecedented influence on British foreign policy.

Israeli officials are aware that once Thatcher leaves office, direction of Middle East policy will revert to the Foreign Office, whose focus is on relations with the Arab nations. Should she survive the next election, therefore, Israel will probably try to overturn London's continuing separate bans on sales of arms and oil to Israel.

Israel's brilliantly crafted campaign for a collaboratory front against "terror" under the leadership of the US has also borne remarkable fruit in Europe. The definition of "international terrorism," and the moral justification for pre-emptive attacks on those deemed to practice it—first propounded by such influential Israelis as UN Ambassador Binyamin Netanyahu—became a key element of US public policy. The Israeli campaign also struck a resonant chord in Western Europe, where almost every government has its own "terrorist problem." Britain has the Irish Republican Army and the Provos. Spain has the Basque separatists, and for years has received Israeli intelligence reports on their activities. Violent attacks by such ultra-left groups as Action Directe, the Red Brigades, and the "Fighting Communist Cells" have plagued France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries. Dubbing opponents "terrorist" obviates the need to consider their motivations—exactly what Israel has in mind concerning the PLO.

Israel also has made no secret of wanting to close down PLO offices in European capitals. In October, the Arabic language Al Mostakbal reported that French magazine and newspaper editors had been sent a file linking the PLO to terrorism.

From the sidelines, Israel applauded the Tokyo declaration against terrorism and Israeli officials welcomed the European powers to what they characterized as their lonesome crusade. In 1986 Israel also concluded a formal "anti-terror" agreement with Italy and, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, came to an unwritten understanding with France on "joint anti-terrorist action."

Israeli Terrorism

In practice, however, things have not worked out too well. In November, members of the British Parliament were outraged when Israel declined to explain how Mordechai Vanunu had been spirited out of Britain to a secret prison in Israel. Vanunu, who worked as a technician at Israel's secret nuclear installation, had provided the Sunday Times of London with details of Tel Aviv's nuclear weapons program.

The British had just broken diplomatic relations with Syria, following the conviction of a Palestinian for attempting to plant a bomb on board an El Al plane. During the trial, evidence was presented implicating Syrian officials. The Jerusalem Post headlined a laudatory editorial with a reference by Winston Churchill to "Britain's finest hour." Nevertheless, Israel, two of whose agents are jailed in London after conviction for the attempted kidnap of a former Nigerian official, brushed aside British queries about Vanunu's departure with breezy assurances that no British laws had been broken.

In their turn, the Italians would drink from the same cup. Vanunu, by writing on the palm of his hand and waving it before press cameras, disclosed that he had been kidnapped at Rome airport after a flight from London. "Israel hopes that Italy will not attribute undue importance [to the incident]" said the Israeli Foreign Ministry in brushing off urgent Italian inquiries.

The French also had a taste of Israel's commitment to cooperation in the field of international law enforcement when Tel Aviv, citing fears for his safety, refused to extradite a man with French and Israeli citizenship convicted in France for murdering an Arab. The French, including the French Jewish community, expressed outrage, and some Israelis were also appalled at the notion of Israel becoming a haven for the Jewish criminals of the world.

Perhaps Israeli officials felt the French had it coming. The Washington Times had quoted Prime Minister Jacques Chirac as saying that West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl believed the London El Al affair was perpetrated by Israeli intelligence agents acting in collusion with their dissident Syrian counterparts. In this incident, the Israeli government quickly accepted the denials of Chirac and Kohl that they had ever expressed such views, even though the Washington Times then printed the verbatim text of its tape-recorded interview with Chirac.

There are other more prosaic factors behind Israel's continued success in Europe. Among them are Shimon Peres' connections with French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish leaders through the Socialist International. Another factor is the residue of guilt from the Holocaust. This is particularly acute in the case of West Germany, which has yielded to Israeli pressure not to sell certain weapons to Arab governments, and which has begun to finance some Israeli activities in Africa.

All of this has brought to Israel the increased international contact it desperately craves. Spain's agreement to exchange ambassadors (judiciously delayed three months after Israel's raid on Tunisia) was cemented with a trade agreement. A joint chamber of commerce with the EC was established last June. Science agreements have been signed with Britain and France, both of which have also made efforts to boost trade with Israel. Following an official visit by Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the French army played host to Gen. Dan Shomron, the first such high-level interaction since France cut military ties with Israel after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The Netherlands provides diplomatic representation for Israel in the USSR and a number of African countries. Greece and the Scandinavian nations remain at once cordial and critical.

So it is likely to continue. Rather than score rhetorical points, West European governments will utilize Washington's current embarrassment over the Iran-contra affair to vindicate their own dealings with Iran. And they will likely continue to cope with Israel's growing influence over Washington by increasing their own contacts with Tel Aviv and their tolerance for its roughshod diplomacy.

Jane Hunter is editor and publisher of Israeli Foreign Affairs, P.O. Box 19580, Sacramento, CA 95819.