The Cabinet today unanimously supported Foreign Minister Yigal Allon’s strong expression of displeasure over the U.S. endorsement of the consensus statement by the Security Council last Thursday. Allon conveyed his position in blunt terms to U.S. Ambassador Malcolm Toon Friday. He called the Council’s action “a blow” to any political progress toward peace.
Allon repeated his criticism at today’s Cabinet session. He told his colleagues that Israel’s reaction has been expressed to other member states of the Security Council as well as the U.S. in a radio interview over the weekend, Allon said the U.S. move was a contradiction of its conduct in the Security Council last May when it rejected what, according to Allon, was a less hostile Arab resolution.
Officials here speculated over the weekend that the American support of the consensus statement was attributable to Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s personal interest in restoring his own credibility with Arab leaders as an even-handed statesman. Now that the U.S. Presidential elections are over, Kissinger seeks to restore the pre-election status quo ante and this hints at the future course American policy may take in the Middle East, the officials said.
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.
