Ambassador Yosef Tekoah, head of the Israeli UN Mission, said last night that the Security Council’s “watered down” resolution on skyjacking will have its effectiveness “tested to a large extent by the reaction of the Arab governments and their willingness to terminate the criminal activities of the Arab terror organizations which are responsible for the most dastardly and sanguinary of the attacks on international civil aviation.” These organizations, Tekoah charged, “have been established by Arab States, operate from Arab territory and are supported politically, financially and militarily by Arab governments.”
The 15-member Council voted yesterday to condemn skyjacking and to ask governments to “take all appropriate measures within their jurisdiction” to “deter and prevent” air terrorism. The Council said it was “gravely concerned at the threat to the lives of passengers and crews arising from the hijacking of aircraft and other unlawful interference with international civil aviation.” The resolution deliberately avoided specific mention of the Middle East situation and political asylum.
“It is clear,” Tekoah said, “that if a further deterioration of the grave situation created by international terror operations is to be prevented, it is essential that the Arab governments change their policy and take stringent measures to suppress the terror organizations and their activities.” Failing this, he went on, “the security of international aviation will remain imperiled” and the Arab governments “must be considered as working against a peaceful settlement of the Middle East conflict.”
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.
