Eban Assails UN Council’s 13-0 Jerusalem Vote, Vows Jerusalem Will Remain Reunified

A resolution voted 13-0 by the Security Council yesterday calling upon Israel to rescind the unification of Jerusalem was greeted with bitterness and disappointment here. Foreign Minister Abba Eban told a press conference that Israel will continue its policy of maintaining a united Jerusalem and will stand by its pledge to grant each religious group free access to the places it considers holy, “a promise no previous Government of Jerusalem has ever made,” Mr. Eban said.

He assailed the Security Council document as “a dark chapter in the moral history of the international organization.” Mr. Eban pointed out that the Council “has not once censured aggression against the population of the city, against the cultural and religious institutions in it and against the savage tearing away of Jews from the place they consider holiest — the Western Walt.” The Security Council “comes alive” to the issue of Jerusalem “only when the city has become unified and is on the way to becoming integrated and when, for the first time in 20 years, the Jewish people have access to their holy places,” he said.

But, Eban declared, Israel’s policy regarding the peace mission of United Nations envoy Gunnar V. Jarring, established by the Security Council’s Nov. 22, 1967 resolution, remains unchanged and Israel will continue to support Dr. Jarring’s efforts to end the Middle East conflict. He said this reaffirmation of support was the outcome of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

The United States and Canada abstained from voting. Nations favoring the resolution were Britain, France, the Soviet Union, Pakistan, India, Senegal, Ethiopia, Denmark, China (Nationalist), Brazil, Paraguay, Algeria and Hungary. The measure was sponsored by Pakistan and Senegal.