British premier considers staying overnight in Gaza

LONDON, March 31 (JTA) — British Prime Minister Tony Blair is considering spending a night in the Gaza Strip when he visits Israel next month to mark the 50th anniversary of the Jewish state. A report in the London-based Guardian newspaper said the proposed overnight stay would represent “an unprecedented gesture of British support for an independent Palestinian state.” Such an act would carry heavy symbolism: Blair would be the first national leader to spend a night in Palestinian-controlled territory; he also would be representing the European Union, of which Britain holds the rotating presidency. A spokesman for Blair described the report as speculation, but refused to rule out the possibility that the premier might stay overnight in Gaza. The report is thought to have been based on a leak that was designed to test Israeli reactions. It is considered unlikely that Britain will press the issue if it encounters strong Israeli opposition. The British government is still smarting over the diplomatic debacle caused by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook’s visit to the controversial Israeli neighborhood of Har Homa in southeastern Jerusalem, which prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a dinner with him earlier this month. British officials deny that the incident has caused any lasting damage to the relationship between Britain and Israel, but they have hinted that Blair’s visit, which is scheduled to start on April 19, is designed — in part, at least — to heal the rift caused by Cook. The fallout from Cook’s visit, meanwhile, has spread to the British Jewish community. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish community’s representative body, announced last week that it was postponing its annual fund-raising dinner, scheduled for May, at which Cook was to have been guest of honor. Community leaders insisted that the decision was not intended as a snub to Cook and said the dinner — planned to mark Israel’s 50th anniversary — had been postponed because it clashed with the annual G8 meeting of industrialized countries, which Britain is hosting. But the Board of Deputies chief executive, Neville Nagler, confirmed that the Har Homa episode contributed to the postponement: “Clearly it was a consideration,” he said. “It would have made his presence very awkward.”