The Security Council will meet tomorrow to adopt a resolution summoning an emergency special session of the General Assembly on the issue of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights. Under UN rules, the Assembly would have to convene within 24 hours and the special emergency session will, therefore, open Friday. It is expected to last one week.
Syria began pressing for a special session after the United States last Wednesday vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for the imposition of “measures” against Israel for annexing the Golan December 14.
The General Assembly is certain to adopt a harsh anti-Israeli resolution, including mandatory sanctions against the Jewish State. But unlike the Security Council, the decisions of the General Assembly are not binding. They also are not subject to a veto.
The Security Council met today behind closed doors in preparation for tomorrow’s open meeting on the emergency special session.
Observers here said that the Syrians and their Arab supporters want to achieve a virtual united international opposition to Israel annexation of the Golan, and thereby completely isolating Israel and its sole supporter the U.S. Observers added that Syria is also likely to gain support in the court of international public opinion as a result of the special session.
When the General Assembly meets Friday it will be the third time the issue of the Golan annexation is put before the UN. The Security Council first met December 17 and called on Israel to rescind its decision to annex the Golan. It met again January 7, a meeting that ended with a U.S. veto.
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.
