The General Assembly is scheduled to take up tomorrow the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied Arab territories. The Arabs, who asked for a special debate on the issue, have urged the Assembly to condemn Israel for its “recent illegal” settlements which, the Arabs claim, are an obstacle to “achieving a just and lasting peace in the Mideast.”
The debate will open with an address by the Egyptian Ambassador, whose country introduced the settlement item on the Assembly’s agenda. Israel’s Ambassador, Chaim Herzog, will be the second speaker. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned that Herzog, like Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan in his recent address to the General Assembly, will contend that the Israeli settlements are legal and do not constitute an obstacle to peace. The debate is expected to last until the end of this week.
Sources here pointed out that differences are likely to emerge between the positions of Israel and the United States on this issue. The Carter Administration had termed the Israeli settlements “an obstacle to peace.” The sources believe that the Americans will support a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied Arab lands.
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.
