“The government of Israel, like any other government, has the right, indeed the duty, to take all measures necessary to protect the lives and safety of its citizens,” Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Yehuda Blum, told the Security Council today. The Council met for the second time to discuss the situation in south Lebanon after a brief meeting yesterday on the subject at the request of the Lebanese government.
Yesterday’s meeting was to discuss Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s special report on the current situation in Lebanon and followed consultations among Council members earlier in the day. The Lebanese request for the meeting was prompted by the entry of Israeli forces into south Lebanon last Wednesday in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on Kibbutz Misgav Am in upper Galilee last Monday.
“In the wake of the attack on Misgav Am and in light of information that the terrorist PLO was planning further outrages of this kind, the Israel Defense force took certain limited measures, the purpose of which was to fail these plans,” Blum declared. “The steps taken have been completed and all Israeli soldiers have completely withdrawn behind the border with Lebanon,” he said.
ACT OF SELF-DEFENSE
The Israeli envoy stated that Israel’s action in south Lebanon was an act of “self-defense,” a right which is recognized by the UN Charter. Blum told the Security Council that in the course of the last year, Israel has failed at least 10 attempts by PLO terrorists to cross the border into Israel from the area of operations of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Blum stated that the PLO in south Lebanon is threatening not only Israel but also the villagers in the area and the UNIFIL forces. “We fail to be persuaded that UNIFIL is prevented from doing more to stem PLO incursions because its attention is occasionally diverted to altercations with the local Lebanese forces. Such an argument is indeed a case of putting the cart before the horse,” Blum said.
Noting that in the last decode, PLO terrorists and “thugs” have committed many atrocities and slaughtered Israeli children, Blum said “Israel has brought all these incidents to the attentions of the Security Council and the Secretary General, but to no avail.” He said that the local Lebanese forces in south Lebanon are the only protection of the villagers and villages in that area. “No credible alternative to those local forces has yet been presented,” he said.
Blum maintained, however, that Israel cannot assume responsibility for the actions of the villagers in south Lebanon. “They act in accordance with what they judge to be a matter of their own survival,” he said.
Blum warned that there will be no long-term improvement in south Lebanon “until the PLO and all alien forces remove themselves or have been removed from Lebanese soil so that Lebanese independence, sovereignty and unity can be restored.”
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