The Cabinet expressed satisfaction yesterday over renewal of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mandate for another six months which was voted by the Security Council Friday night. Foreign Minister Yigal Allon formally reported the renewal to the Cabinet at its weekly session. Israeli leaders were particularly gratified that the extension of the peace-keeping force on the Golan Heights had no “political strings” attached.
Thirteen of the Council’s 15 members voted the extension. China and Libya did not participate in the vote. Israel and Syria, neither of which is a member of the Security Council, did not ask to take part in the discussion which was conducted in a routine atmosphere free of tension. This was markedly different from the situation six months ago when Syria agreed to an extension at the 11th hour only after extracting a political price in the form of a Security Council debate on the Middle East with the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The debate, held in January, was boycotted by Israel.
WALDHEIM WARNS MIDEAST STILL DANGER SPOT
This time, Secretary General Kurt Waldheim apparently had little trouble gaining President Hafez Assad’s assent to a renewal of the UNDOF mandate during a brief visit to Damascus last week. Before Friday’s vote Waldheim told the Security Council that Assad had stressed he would not permit UNDOF to become “a permanent institution” in Syria. He said the Syrian leader explained that he was agreeing to a fourth renewal of UNDOF to provide more time for negotiations toward a Middle East settlement. Waldheim added that the situation in the Middle East “as a whole remains tense and unstable.” He warned
Waldheim went to Damascus with Israel’s prior agreement to the extension of UNDOF provided there were no conditions. There were reports here today that the Secretary General did in fact write a letter to Assad stating that renewal of the mandate would facilitate Security Council discussions on various Middle East problems including the Palestinian problem. But neither Waldheim nor the Syrians made any official references to such a letter. The Israeli view is that as long as the letter remains in the form of a private communication between Waldheim and Assad, without political or diplomatic consequences, Israel need not take official cognizance of it.
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