Israel charged today that the current Security Council debate on the territories under Israeli control is “a futile, useless, waste of time” and charged that it is a result “of the volatile, unstable, internecine interrelationship within the Arab world.”
In remarks prepared for delivery to the Security Council this afternoon. Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog said that Egypt requested the meeting because it “has to indulge in a game of one upmanship with Syria and to take advantage of the tension and confrontation between Syria and the PLO in Lebanon.” Herzog said that the Palestinian Arabs are only an excuse “as always” used by the Arab states “as pawns in the inter-Arab game.”
Analyzing in depth the situation in Lebanon, Herzog concluded: “This debate is part of an Egyptian effort to reassert itself in the Arab world and to score over the Syrians within the framework of the struggle one with the other.”
ANSWERS CHARGES ON WEST BANK
Turning to the situation in the West Bank, Herzog cited a recent case of an Egyptian woman who came to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem for open heart surgery. “If the territories are such a hell on earth for the Arabs why the long line of Arabs crossing from every country in the Middle East to Israel for treatment?” he asked.
“If conditions in the administered areas are so unbearable and it is claimed that Israel is committing ‘war crimes’ in the areas, why is it that hundreds of thousands of Arabs, including women and children, voluntarily cross the Jordan River to spend their vacations in the very same areas?”
According to the Israeli envoy, since June 1967 4.5 million people crossed the bridges of the Jordan River in both directions, including 700,000 Arab tourists arriving from different Arab countries.
Herzog, referring to Egyptian accusations yesterday at the Council meeting, of Israeli mistreatment of the Gaza population, accused Egypt of oppressing the people of the Gaza Strip during the 19 years they were under Egyptian control “You treated them as slaves,” Herzog said to the Egyptian representative. “You violated one human right after another.”
The same charges were made by Herzog against Jordan which Herzog said “oppressed the Arab population for 19 years” while the West Bank was under Jordanian control.
PROUD OF RECORD
Stating that he does not ignore the problems that presently exist in the West Bank. Herzog said, however, that Israel is proud of its record in the West Bank. He noted that Israel has never carried out a death penalty against an Arab terrorist, that the standard of living of the Arabs in the administered territories has risen and that there is freedom to express any political opinion “including extreme views opposing the State of Israel.”
Herzog disclosed during his speech that an investigation is under way in Israel concerning the proposal by a West Bank resident to a foreign television crew to organize incidents such as burning of tires or creating road blocks in return for a payment of $300. He accused Egypt and the PLO of inciting the disturbances in the West Bank and charged that the incitement “is designed to prevent the development of a dialogue between the new leadership (in the West Bank) and the Israeli administration.”
Reiterating Israel’s call for negotiations Herzog said a solution to the Mideast conflict can be achieved only on the basis of understanding. “You have no option today but to choose between the ongoing force towards peace in the Middle East” as envisaged in Resolutions 242 and 338, “or on the other hand, between the uncompromising, intransigent attitude reflected in the Arab statement ‘before you which means a perpetuation of war and misery,” Herzog stated.
U.S. OBJECTS TO SEATING PLO
Ahmed Meguid, the Ambassador of Egypt, which asked for the Security Council meeting, yesterday urged the Council to adopt a resolution condemning “Israel’s brutal and illegal actions” in the administered territories and calling for “immediate and effective” steps to stop what he said were violations of international law.
The start of the debate yesterday was similar to the start of a discussion on Israel’s occupation policy last March which ended with a United States veto of a resolution condemning Israel. American Ambassador William Scranton objected yesterday as he did in March to seating the Palestine Liberation Organization. As in March the PLO was seated by an 11-1 vote with Britain, France and Italy abstaining.
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