Israel will attend tomorrow’s UN Security Council session which will deal with the situation on the West Bank, it was announced here by Foreign Minister Yigal Allon. The Council session was requested by Egypt more than a week ago. The session is expected to adjourn shortly after it convenes until after the American Presidential election. (By then, sources at the UN noted, a U.S. veto in the Council on behalf of Israel could be avoided and the debate in the General Assembly on apartheid will be over and full attention can be paid to Egypt’s charge that there is an “explosive situation” on the West Bank, particularly in Hebron.)
The decision to attend tomorrow’s session was an ad hoc one. Israel boycotted one Council session last January dealing with the extension of the UN Disengagement Observer Force because the Palestine Liberation Organization was represented. Israel objected to a debate on the extension of UNDOF being exploited for Arab propaganda purposes. However, when the Council debated the situation in the administered territories last May. Israel attended since it regarded itself responsible for the area and did not want the PLO to be the sole spokesman for the inhabitants of the territories.
The same logic prevailed here Thursday night when it was decided that Israel will participate in tomorrow’s Council session on the West Bank. Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog will address the Council but will direct his remarks to the sovereign Arab state represented there and will ignore the presence and statements of the PLO representatives, according to reports here.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
