Mrs. Golds Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, defended the Israel delegation’s vote in the United Nations on the condemnation of South Africa’s apartheid policy, as she summarized the two-day foreign policy debate in the Knesset here today.
She expressed satisfaction over the Knesset final vote last night on a resolution up-holding the foreign policy, as she had outlined it. Parliament approved the policy by a vote of 63-11, with 13 abstentions. Not only the parties that are members of the coalition Government, but also the Liberals and Agudat Israel Joined in the overwhelming affirmative vote. The Herut Party abstained. The negative votes were cast by the Communist Party and by the leftist but anti-Communist Mapam.
Referring in her summation to Israel’s UN vote against South Africa, Mrs, Meir said it would have been contrary to Jewish morality for Israel to have failed to raise its voice against the “shameful iniquity” of South Africa’s apartheid policy. She pointed out that South Africa’s racism was a matter that touched “the very souls” of the African members of the United Nations.
In regard to the Arab refugee issue, Mrs. Meir said she had reason “to be encouraged” by Parliament’s vote, which reaffirmed Israel’s principle of “non-return” for the refugees.
Israel’s dealings with West Germany were also defended by Mrs. Meir in her summation in response to Herut criticism. The question of Israeli-German relations, she said, that Israel’s security was involved in this matter. “Our security,” she said, “over-rides every other consideration in determining Israeli-German relations.”
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