VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The United States’ plan to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem has been one of the major talking points in recent days.
But did you know that back to 1979, our country considered the same idea, before eventually abandoning it?
Just like with US President Donald Trump, this was an election promise intended to get support from Toronto’s Jewish community back in the ’70s.
But once in power, then Prime Minister Joe Clark sent a special envoy, Robert Stanfield, to the Middle East, who advised him not to follow through.
“As a result of extensive consultation, Mr Stanfield has concluded that a change in the location of the Canadian embassy in Israel could be seen as prejudging negotiations among parties in the Middle East, and might in fact work against progress toward a just and lasting peace settlement,” Clark told the House of Commons in October 1979.
SFU professor Andre Gerolymatos specializes in international diplomacy and hopes Trump will similarly reconsider.
“A lot of Western countries toyed with the idea of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” says Gerolymatos. “There are historic considerations, there are sentimental considerations, there are even religious considerations to some degree. But when the reality came that if they did that, they would be hindering the cause of peace in the region, they pulled back.”
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