Former Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens found a warmer reception at the Foreign Office than on his last visit 20 years ago.

Giving the Zionist Federation’s Balfour Day lecture there on Monday, he recalled his trip in 1989. With Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he felt Israel had a true friend, but when he met Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe and his FO associates, “I thought I’d come to another country”.