An examination of the truth of the myth that the British Foreign Office has been heavily prejudiced in favour of the Arab cause in the Middle East.
There is an accepted popular myth about recent Middle Eastern history that, ever since the days of Lawrence of Arabia, Pasha Glubb and Wilfred Thesiger, the British Foreign Office has been heavily prejudiced in favour of the Arab cause in the Middle East and has been consistently anti- Israel and has therefore been uneven in its handling of Middle East affairs.
The purpose of Dr Lochery's new book is to examine the truth of this myth. In this compact and very readable account of Middle Eastern politics since the Second World War his main focus is on the role of diplomacy. In particular, the relationship between the Foreign Office and the State of Israel is one of the most fascinating untold diplomatic stories of the later twentieth century. One Israeli official once claimed that even apartheid regimes in South Africa were treated better by the British Foreign Office. Since the creation of Israel in May 1948, some twenty-one British foreign secretaries have served in twelve distinct governments with varying degrees of success. These include the pre-Suez Arabist Anthony Eden. The low points have been Robin Cook's visit to Israel in 1998, a classic example of the loathing between Israel and the Foreign Office. Lochery's account is dispassionate and carefully researched.
