Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

Press Conference ending Egyptian visit

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: Cairo
Source: The Times, 10 January 1976
Journalist: Paul Martin, The Times, reporting
Editorial comments: Time and place unknown.
Importance ranking: Minor
Word count: 564

Tory leader sees issue of Palestine as crucial

Mrs Thatcher, Leader of the Opposition, declared today that the Palestinian issue was “more than a refugee problem” and that its solution was essential for a final Middle East settlement. However, she emphasized that all parties to the conflict had rights, including the Palestinians, and only when these were reconciled could there be a solution.

At a press conference at the end of her talks with Egyptian leaders, Mrs Thatcher refused to be drawn on the question of a role for the Palestine Liberation Organization in the peace process. But her remarks on the wider nature of the Palestinian problem appeared to go some way to support the coming Arab campaign at the United Nations Security Council to have it defined as a political issue.

Clearly, the Palestinian question absorbed much of the time during Mrs Thatcher's discussions with President Sadat, as she prepared for the Syrian leg of her “front line” Arab tour, she said that the personal contacts she had made in Egypt had taught her a lot about the problems of the region.

Mrs Thatcher said that she regarded “unilateral pronouncements” on the Middle East as unwise at such a delicate stage in the negotiating process. She defined Conservative Party policy as one based on United Nations Resolution 242, which calls for Israel withdrawal from occupied Arab territory in return for peace, and a solution to the Palestinian problem.

She went on to repeat the EEC stand outlined at the recent General Assembly debate, which called for a recognition of Palestinian rights to national identity in return for Israel's right to exist within secure boundaries. She emphasized that this embodied the “two limbs” of the Middle East problem and said that only if it were tackled in such a way could there be a solution.

Although she would not endorse the EEC policy as identical with that of the Conservative Party, Mrs Thatcher said it was crucial that any agreement should be two-sided. “I am interested in a settlement of the Middle East problem” , she said, rising to repeated questions on the subject, “a final and lasting solution.” What was needed was a reconciliation of the rights of all the parties.

“Ultimately, if we are to get a settlement, we have to get a reconciliation between the two. This is not aided by unilateral pronouncements, but only by diplomatic activity between the two of the kind that resulted in the Sinai agreement.”

Mrs Thatcher went out of her way to praise this agreement between Egypt and Israel as a “courageous and wise” move. But she said that it was only a “first step” towards a solution and that it was vital that the momentum towards peace should be maintained by all involved.

Discussing a possible British role in expanded Geneva peace talks and suggesting that she could be one of the big power guarantors, Mrs Thatcher said that Britain was willing to play a role. “I imagine that when we get a final Middle East settlement we will not get one without some international guarantee of the frontiers, because obviously every single state will be looking for some guarantee of its own right to exist in the area.”

Throughout, Mrs Thatcher went out of her way to avoid any comment which might be construed as criticism of the British Government's policies. On arms supplies to Egypt, she said that her party's policy was to look at each case on its merits and to judge whether it would ultimately jeopardize a Middle East settlement.