Israel and the Soviet Union Clash Sharply in the UN Security Council

Israel and the Soviet Union clashed sharply in the Security Council today with the United States joining in at one point as Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Blum and Soviet representative Richard Ovinnikov hurled verbal brickbats during the debate on the “situation in the occupied Arab territories.”

The debate, which opened April 13, was precipitated by the fatal shooting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, site of Islamic shrines, on April II. Ovinnikov charged that “the terrorist” responsible was an Israeli occupying soldier “who acted under the cover of other terrorists,” meaning the Israeli army. He went on to accuse Israel of bringing “tears, blood and destruction” to the Palestinian people.

Exercising his right of reply, Blum said he was “moved” by the Soviet display of concern for holy places and charged that tens of thousands of churches and mosques in the Soviet Union have been shut down and “at best converted to barns or stables.” He said the Soviet Union sought to avoid such issues as Russian and Cuban troops in Africa, the situation in Poland and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. “How many mosques have the Soviet occupation army in Afghanistan closed over the last two years?” he asked.

Ovinnikov, retorting, said the real issue in the Middle East was Israel’s illegal occupation of Arab land and that Israel did not want to see the Soviet Union speaking on behalf of the Arab nations. Blum took the floor again, accusing the Soviet Union of posing as the “apostle of peace” while it opposed the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt and, in fact, had contributed substantially to every war in the Middle East since 1950.

The Soviet envoy replied that his country opposed the Camp David accords because they contained a “secret” understanding that the Palestinians should never have a state of their own. He also referred to the “secret” strategic cooperation agreement signed between Israel and the U.S. last year which, he charged, was aimed against the Soviet Union.

At that point, the U.S. representative, Charles Lichtenstein, denied vehemently that the strategic cooperation agreement was secret or that it was directed against any nation or group. He said the agreement was intended to preserve and protect the interests of Israel and the U.S. which often coincided.

Lichtenstein noted that its implementation was temporarily suspended “for reasons well known” to the Israeli and U.S. governments. The agreement was suspended by the Reagan Administration last December, one week after it was signed, because of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.

Earlier today, a UN spokesman said that no draft resolution on the Temple Mount incident has been introduced at the Security Council and therefore it is not known when a vote will take place.

In his earlier statement, the Soviet representative charged that it was impossible for the Security Council to take action against Israel because the U.S. prevented it and said the U.S. supports Israeli expansionism in the Middle East.