Israel Trying to Persuade U.S. to Use Veto Power in Security Council

Israel is trying to persuade the United States to agree to use its veto in the Security Council against future anti-Israel resolutions that might be adopted by that body, official circles said here today. They confirmed that this is one of the issues on which Israel is seeking further clarification from the U.S. Ever since the inception of the United Nations, the U.S. has been reluctant to employ its veto and it has been used only rarely. The U.S. on the other hand, has frequently criticized the Soviet Union for resorting repeatedly to the veto to kill resolutions it considers opposed to its interests. President Nixon stressed in his most recent letter to Premier Golda Meir, delivered last Friday, that the U.S. is opposed to any changes in the Security Council’s Resolution 242 of Nov. 22, 1967 from which Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring’s peace mission derives its mandate. Other points contained in the Nixon letter, according to reliable sources, were a promise that the U.S. will continue its policy of strengthening Israel with the clear knowledge that a large inflow of Soviet arms into Egypt is in progress and that in the U.S. government’s view, Israel does not have to withdraw from any territories as long as there is no peace agreement. Mr. Nixon also reportedly promised Mrs. Meir that the U.S. would not interfere in the Jarring talks. Replying to her query about U.S. policy on the Arab refugee problem, he reportedly wrote that in the American view the “Jewish character of the State of Israel” must be maintained.

An official source said Israel was anxious to get a specific American commitment of firmer support in the Security Council because “we are quite aware that we can never win there. The Soviet veto is always available to squash anything that can be of use to us–quite apart from the fact that the Council, by its composition, is usually weighted in our disfavor.” He said Israel felt handicapped by America’s extreme reluctance to use the veto. Premier Meir and Foreign Minister Abba Eban conferred today with U.S. Ambassador Walworth Barbour, reportedly on Israel’s request for a clarification of policy from Washington. Mrs. Meir had asked for the meeting. The Cabinet decided yesterday to withhold its decision on reactivating the Jarring talks pending further clarification from the U.S. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan is scheduled to hold his talks with top Nixon administration officials in Washington next Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11-12. According to unofficial reports he will also meet with President Nixon. Gen. Dayan is scheduled to address a United Jewish Appeal meeting in New York next week-end. His visit to the U.S. at this time is officially on behalf of the UJA and he will reportedly address UJA meetings before and after his political talks in Washington. The newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported today that some circles in Egypt are showing interest in Gen. Dayan’s ideas for a mutual disengagement of military forces along the Suez Canal.