Israel warned the world today that it will enter into no negotiations with the Arab states on any problem whatever unless Israel’s sovereignty and integrity are first recognized as “an unchallengeable starting point.”
That statement was made here before a plenary session of the General Assembly by Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister, Abba Eban, who addressed the 115-nation body during its “general debate,” when Governments state their over-all foreign affair policies and the specific issues affecting their countries.
In a long address touching upon virtually every problem of concern to the United Nations as a whole, Israel-Arab relations specifically, and issues of interest to Jewry the world over, Mr. Eban also:
1. Discussed the UN’s financial crisis and the world body’s peacekeeping operations, which Israel directly because the United Nations Emergency Force guards Israel against Egyptian incursions.
2. Praised the accomplishments of the recent Ecumenical Council at the Vatican, which adopted preliminarily a declaration that would vindicate the Jewish people from the ancient charge of deicide and would condemn anti-Semitism.
3. Requested that the UN itself condemn anti-Semitism forthrightly and by name.
4. Alluded to the persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union without, however, mentioning the USSR by name.
5. Insisted that Israel must be recognized as having a rightful place among the underdeveloped countries which are now organized inside the UN to obtain more assistance for the “have not” countries from the minority of affluent nations.
6. Spelled out Israel’s role in the advancement of science and technology, offering to share such knowledge with the rest of the world.
7. Expressed dissatisfaction with West Germany’s refusal to extend beyond next May the statute of limitation on prosecution of major Nazi war criminals.
Referring to the Arab states, he told the Assembly: “Israel has nothing to say or discuss in any context in which her sovereignty, integrity and statehood, are not taken as a starting point, beyond the realm of negotiation.”
STRESSES ISRAEL’S UNCHALLENGEABLE PLACE IN MIDDLE EAST
He vigorously supported the doctrine of prohibiting frontier changes by force. Turning to the Middle East, he said: “No more and no less is required, than the application of the principles of the UN Charter.” He pointed out that Arab nationalism has no cause for complaint, that the Middle East is not a uniquely Arab area, but the authentic home of many peoples, cultures and faiths; and that the Arabs do not grasp the depth, passion and total authenticity of Israel’s roots in Middle Eastern history and life. At the same time he stressed Israel’s unchallengeable place in the group of developing countries.
In an impassioned call for peace and global unity, he urged proclaiming and strengthening the sovereignty and integrity of states; defining UN peace-keeping responsibilities; giving new impulse to the UN Disarmament Conference; accelerating the progress of the developing states; advancing towards the completion of decolonization; United Nations denunciation of discrimination and intolerance; and improving the UN’s effectiveness for international unity.
There was loud and prolonged applause from the delegates at the Assembly when Mr. Eban concluded. All of the Arab delegations were present, although they refused demonstratively to join the applause for Mr. Eban’s address. One Arab–Adnan M. Pachachi, of Iraq, speaking on behalf of the entire Arab bloc, replied to Mr. Eban. But his remarks, though brief, were seen here as marked by the customary Arab tone of anti-Israeli diatribe.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
