Summary
Leader of the Maltese Labour Party and head of Malta’s government who, in Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, recounts how Britain vetoed his January 1956 arrangement for Gamal Abd al-Nasser to meet Israeli representatives secretly in Malta — evidence, in the book’s Chapter 7, that Nasser sought no attack on Israel in 1956 and that Britain blocked peacemaking (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.358-360).
Details
- On a private visit to Egypt in January 1956, while still serving as head of Malta’s government, Mintoff was received by Nasser with great cordiality; having invited Nasser to Malta for a vacation, he proposed: “Why don’t you meet with Israeli representatives on that occasion, for secret talks, [with] representatives who will be there as if by chance?” Nasser agreed, and the visit was set for April 1956 (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.358-359).
- Still in Cairo, Mintoff briefed the British Ambassador on the planned visit and on Nasser’s agreement to the secret meeting; on his return to Malta he planned to call Israel to confirm suitable representatives, but the British governor summoned him and told him sharply: “I have received orders from London that there is no place now for a visit by Nasser of any kind whatsoever” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.359).
- Shown the telegram at his insistence, Mintoff read the British Foreign Ministry’s instruction to the governor: “It is undesirable particularly now, nor is it convenient that Nasser visit Malta now”, Nasser was to be told the visit was inconvenient “because of internal matters that are now being dealt with urgently”, he “must not know that it is not our desire that he visit Malta”, and Mintoff was to understand “that he is not a travel agent for peacemaking”; every word of negation was emphasized with large letters, and the visit did not take place (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.359).
- Mintoff told Moshe Sharett of the affair when they met in 1958 in the context of the Socialist International — “And so, the British prevented a meeting between Nasser and you back in 1956” — and delivered him a Photostat copy of the telegram by hand about a year and a half before the account’s publication; he gave Nasser another Photostat copy on his second Egypt visit, and “Nasser read the telegram and smiled” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.360).
- Asked about a further mediation offer in his 1959 conversations, Mintoff concluded: “I spoke with Nasser and heard one thing from him: He does not believe that you will not attack him” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.360). The account is Mintoff’s, as told to Maariv’s Malta correspondent A. Dan (Maariv, 26/5/61); Yedioth Aharonoth (4/8/61) lists him — as “George [sic] Mintoff” — among the four mediation attempts of 1954-6 (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.363).
Related pages
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, Gamal Abd al-Nasser, Moshe Sharett, Britain