Binyamin Netanyahu, the new Israeli Ambassador to the UN, will take his first dip tomorrow in the unfriendly waters of the world organization when Israel’s credentials will come for approval before the General Assembly.
“We expect Iran to challenge Israel’s credentials tomorrow as it did in the last two years, “Netanyahu said in a briefing at the Israel UN Mission to Israeli reporters. “But we believe that the Iranian move will be thwarted and set aside by the majority of the UN membership.”
Last year, the Iranian move to deny Israel’s credentials — which in effect means the suspension of Israel from the deliberations of the General Assembly — was rejected by a motion by Norway to set aside the Iranian request until the end of the General Assembly, there by ignoring it altogether. Tomorrow, the same motion is expected to be introduced by Denmark, Last year, 73 countries supported the Norwegian motion while 43 opposed it and 19 abstained.
Netanyahu said today that Israel has been engaged in a diplomatic campaign at the UN, holding meetings with as many delegates as possible to increase the opposition to the Iranian anti-Israeli move. He said that he plans to address the Assembly tomorrow. It will be his first public appearance here since he was appointed Ambassador three weeks ago.
SAYS ISRAEL MUST GO ON THE OFFENSIVE
In reply to a question by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as to how he views his approach as, Israel’s chief delegate at the UN, the 35-year-old envoy, who before coming here served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israel Embassy in Washington, said he believes that Israel should not only defend itself against its attackers at the UN but in fact fight back and go on the offensive.
“Israel finds itself in the UN at a center of an offensive almost unparalled in history,” Netanyahu observed, noting that the “two centers of world anti-Semitism today, the Soviet Union and the Arab world, have joined forces against Israel at the UN.” He added: “We have to attack these forces and put them on the defensive.”
But Netanyahu warned against the “extremist view that ‘all the world is against us’. “In fact, he sold, Israel has many friends among the countries in the UN. He said that Israel’s international standing has improved dramatically in the last two years, from the difficult international situation Israel faced after the start of the Peace for Galilee operation in June, 1982.
Yesterday, the Israeli Ambassador met with representatives of the international press at the UN. In reply to several questions about reports that Israel supplies arms to Iran, Netanyahu said: “This is simply not true. We do not supply any weapons to Iran.”
Asked about the role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) after Israel with-draws its troops from south Lebanon, the Ambassador said that Israel wants UNIFIL to serve as a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian troops. He said Israel does not believe UNIFIL is suitable for “policing” south Lebanon to prevent terrorist activities.
He said this task, as far as Israel is concemed, should be the responsibility of the South Lebanon Army (SLA).
Netanyahu succeeded Ambassador Yehuda Blum who returned to Israel last August after serving six years as Israel’s envoy to the UN.
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.
