Interior Minister Yosef Burg charged today that United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s position in the Arab-Israeli conflict influenced the anti-Israel debate now going on at a special emergency session of the General Assembly. “After what he (Waldheim) said, it is very difficult to see him as a neutral man in the conflict,” Burg told reporters after today’s Cabinet meeting.
He was referring to Waldheim’s reported endorsement of a Palestinian state in the course of a speech he made Friday night at a dinner given by the Arab League in New York. It was not “one of his better statements,” Burg said. “It is not a fortunate one. It gives a one sided interpretation of what has to be done.”
The Cabinet discussed recent political developments at the UN, the recent summit meeting of the European Economic Community (EEC) heads of state in Venice and the UN Decade for Women conference currently in progress in Copenhagen. No decisions were taken.
In domestic matters, the Cabinet rejected a measure proposed by Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir which would have decriminalized homosexual relations between consenting adult males. It decided to increase the penalty for rape.
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