Israel declared today that the two pro-PLO resolutions adopted by overwhelming majorities in the General Assembly this morning “are’ utterly unacceptable” to the Israeli government and create “an impasse” in the Middle East for which the states that voted for them bear responsibility.
Exercising his right of reply immediately after the voting, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Chaim Herzog, said the two resolutions were “a tragic blow to the peace effort mechanism in our region and the members of the organization who voted for them will bear the responsibility for the dire consequences which may emerge.”
He pointed out that the new resolutions do not mention Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 “as if the General Assembly could ignore the resolutions of the Security Council as well as the existing international mechanism which has brought about in the course of the year the signature of the significant agreement between Israel and Egypt.”
Herzog also observed that today’s resolutions did not mention the Geneva peace conference. The resolution favoring PLO participation in any Mideast peace-making forums, however, included the Geneva conference by implication.
WILL NOT NEGOTIATE WITH PLO
He reiterated that Israel will not “under any circumstances” negotiate with the PLO which, he said, is bent on the destruction of Israel, “The government of Israel, in the exercise of its rights, rejects such recommendations of the General Assembly,” Herzog declared. “It will not participate in any negotiations with the so-called PLO and will not cooperate in any manner within the framework of resolutions” of last year or today’s resolutions.
Last year’s resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, accorded the PLO observer status and affirmed the “inalienable rights” of the Palestinians. The resolutions adopted by the Assembly today were related to the earlier measures.
Herzog said Israel was ready to move toward a peaceful settlement within the framework of Resolutions 242 and 338 and “the resultant mechanism thereby created in Geneva.”
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