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Argentine Official Says His Country Has Not Abandoned Defense of Israel

December 31, 1976
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Capt. Gualter Alara, the Argentine Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, assured a Jewish delegation yesterday that Argentina’s support of anti-Israel resolutions during the last session of the UN General Assembly by no means should be interpreted as abandonment of a basic principle of Argentina’s foreign policy, namely its defense of Israel’s right to exist within secure, recognized frontiers.

Alara conceded that the government was not happy with the anti-Israel voted cast by its UN representative, Ambassador Carlos Ortiz de Rozas. He said the votes were “circumstantial” and stressed that the government understands the concern of the Argentine Jewish community.

Alara received a delegation consisting of Dr. Nehemias Resnizky, president of the DAIA and its joint secretaries, Moises Camji and Naum Barbarasch. They presented him with a strongly worded memorandum deploring de Rozas’ support of resolutions presented by Syria and Egypt condemning Israel for its practices in the occupied Arab territories. The memorandum expressed the deep concern felt in the Jewish community because Argentina’s vote was in conflict with its official policy of even-handedness in the Middle East conflict.

Following the meeting, Resnizky told reporters. “We were given to understand that this will not be repeated.” He also reported that Alara said the government viewed with displeasure the circulation of Nazi, anti-Semitic literature in Argentina and would continue to take measures to prevent the dissemination of material harmful to the country.

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