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Israel
Relations with Western Europe
Israeli relations with the states of Western Europe have been
conditioned by European desires to further their own commercial
interests and ties with the Arab world and their heavy dependence
on Middle Eastern oil. Europeans have provided political support
for Arab states and the Palestinian cause, even though Europe
has served as the battleground for Arab and Palestinian terrorist
groups. For example, beginning in the early 1970s, the ministers
of foreign affairs of the European Community called for Israel
to withdraw from territories occupied during the June 1967 War,
expressed "reservations" over the 1978 Camp David Accords, and
accepted the "association" of the PLO in solving the Palestinian
problem.
Despite such official declarations, West European states have
been important trading partners for Israel; about 40 percent of
Israel's foreign trade occurred with European countries. Furthermore,
there has been strong European-Israeli cooperation-- except with
Greece--in the area of counterterrorism. Britain was Israel's
most important European trading partner although relations between
the two countries were never free of tensions. In 1979, for example,
Britain disallowed Israel's purchase of British crude oil after
Israel lost oil deliveries from Iran and Sinai. Moreover, Britain
imposed an arms embargo on Israel following its June 1982 invasion
of Lebanon.
In the early 1950s, France and Israel maintained close political
and military relations, and France was Israel's main weapons supplier
until the June 1967 War. At that time, during Charles de Gaulle's
presidency, France became highly critical of Israeli policies
and imposed an arms embargo on Israel. In the early 1980s, French-Israeli
relations markedly improved under the presidency of François Mitterrand,
who pursued a more even-handed approach than his predecessors
on Arab-Israeli issues. Mitterand was the first French president
to visit Israel while in office.
Relations between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany
(West Germany) were "second in importance only to [Israel's] partnership
with the United States," according to Michael Wolffsohn, a leading
authority on the subject. In Wolffsohn's view, the dominant issues
in West German-Israeli relations were: the question of reparations
(up to 1953); the establishment of diplomatic relations (up to
1965); the solidification of normal relations (through 1969);
the erosion in the West German-Israeli relationship as Chancellor
Willi Brandt--the first West German chancellor to visit Israel--began
to stress Israel's need to withdraw from all territories occupied
in the June 1967 War and to recognize the right of the Palestinian
people to self-determination; and, finally, during the 1980s,
under the Christian Democrats, West Germany's closer adherence
to United States policies on Arab-Israeli issues.
In January 1986, Spain established full diplomatic relations
with Israel despite pressures from Arab states and policy differences
between Madrid and Jerusalem over the Palestinian question. This
step concluded intensive behind-the-scenes Israeli efforts--begun
upon the death of President Francisco Franco in 1975--to achieve
normal relations with Spain. Prior to establishing diplomatic
relations, the two countries discreetly collaborated in antiterrorism
efforts, and there were close ties between Labor and Spain's Socialist
Party.
Although in 1947 Turkey voted against the UN resolution to establish
the Jewish state, in 1948 it became the first Muslim country to
establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. The two countries
subsequently maintained normal relations.
Data as of December 1988
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