The United Nations Ad Hoc Political Committee overwhelmingly approved Israel’s admission to the world organization tonight by a vote of 33 to 11, with 13 abstentions. Under the circumstances it is considered a certainty that the General Assembly will approve the Committee recommendation by the required two-thirds majority. The Assembly is expected to take action on the application this week.
Just prior to the final vote in the Ad Hoc Committee on the Israeli application, the members of that body defeated a Lebanese resolution calling for a postponement of consideration of the bid until the next session of the General Assembly, in September.-The vote on the Lebanese resolution was 19 in favor, 24 opposed, and 12 attentions.
The United States was one of the seven states sponsoring the application. The other six were Australia, Canada, Haiti, Guatemala, Uruguay and Panama. The negative votes were cast by the Arab and Moslem countries and India.
Before voting on the application, the Committee adopted a proposal moved by Argentina that the Conciliation Commission now meeting in Lausanne should hear the views of interested religious denominations, including the Vatican, on the future of Jerusalem. This was, however, divorced from the decision on Israel’s membership when Argentina withdrew a formal proposal to this effect, demanding only that the views of the Committee be entered in the record.
PRO-ISRAEL VOTE LIKELY TO INCREASE AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY
An Israeli spokesman said the outcome was exactly as the Israel mission had expected. He added that the pro-Israel vote is likely to increase in the Assembly. France and the Union of South Africa which abstained in this vote have indicated they might receive instructions to vote in favor of admission when the application comes up for final ratification in plenary session.
At today’s morning session Aubrey S. Shan, Israel’s representative to the United Nations, in a second policy statement before the committee, confirmed reports that the U.N. Conciliation Commission at Lausanne had officially sounded out the negotiating parties on the virtual partition of Jerusalem as an alternative to internationalization. Permitted ten minutes for the statement after Lebanon’s 90-minute attack against membership, Eban assailed the assertion that the Arabs have fully accepted internationalization of the city.
He pointed out that both at Lausanne and in private meetings with the Conciliation Commission, the Arabs reserved the right of decision on any plan for U.N. control, Furthermore, he added, Iraq and Transjordan have not accepted the principle of internationalization while Transjordan, which is the only Arab country to occupy part of Jerusalem, had approached Israel for an alternative solution.
The British delegate, Sir Terrence Shone, told the Committee that he would have to abstain on Israel’s bid because the government of the Jewish state had not yet clarified its position on Jerusalem and the Arab refugees to the satisfaction of Britain.
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