Bush Urges UN to Reject Moves to Alter ‘careful Balance’ of Res. 242

United States Ambassador George Bush urged the General Assembly today to reject any draft resolution that would alter the “careful balance” of Security Council Resolution 242 of Nov. 22,1967, the framework for a Middle East settlement. “This Assembly must preserve the measure of agreement that already underlies this resolution,” Bush said in a speech in the Assembly’s Mideast debate.

“It cannot seek to impose courses of action on the countries directly concerned, either by making new demands or by favoring the proposals or positions of one side or the other. The approaches simply will not work and may in fact endanger the relative calm that has existed since 1970.” the U.S. Ambassador declared.

Instead, Bush said, the Assembly “must ensure that its conclusions will reinforce the willingness of all parties in the months ahead to enter into a diplomatic process which alone can lead to the just and lasting settlement which is our common objective.” The term “new demands” was an allusion to Arab-backed draft resolutions proposing sanctions against Israel for refusing to commit itself to withdrawal from all the administered territories.

IMPROVE PROSPECTS FOR PEACEMAKING

Bush’s rejection of “one-sided” resolutions was similar to the declaration last Wednesday in the Assembly by Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah. “The guidelines for negotiations between the parties have already been established in Security Council Resolution 242,” Bush maintained. “Bitterness and invective,” he said, “have contributed little to finding the road to a durable peace.”

Noting that the U.S. would have preferred not to have a possibly counterproductive Mideast debate this year, Bush advised the Assembly that now that it was under way, it was up to all members “to do our best to see that what emerges from this debate contributes directly to an improvement in the atmosphere in the Middle East and to the prospects for peacemaking, or, if this is not possible, to ensure that opportunities for diplomacy in the months ahead are not seriously set back.” The envoy recalled Secretary of State William P. Rogers’ earlier remark that “the momentum toward a peace settlement must be regained.”

Bush stressed that Resolution 242 calls for “the application of two–not one, but two–principles”–one, Israeli “withdrawal from territories occupied in the 1967 conflict,” and two, termination of belligerency and respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. The deadlock has resulted, Bush observed, from “varying interpretations” of Resolution 242, “despite determined efforts by a distinguished statesman, Ambassador Gunnar Jarring.”

In a gesture of even-handedness. Bush stressed that “We attach great importance to our relations with all the States and peoples of the area.” He said the U.S. was “determined to conduct ourselves in a manner which will contribute to this trend of improving relations with old friends.”