Jewish Leaders Warn Waldheim About Growing Disenchantment with UN

— In a two-hour meeting with Secretary General Kurt Waldheim and his top advisors, a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations delegation warned yesterday that “growing disenchantment” with the apparent anti-Israel bias of the United Nations could result in a major change in relations between the United States and the UN.

Howard Squadron, chairman of the Presidents Conference, said one strong possibility was a sharp cut in U.S. funding of the international body. Currently, Washington provides about one-fourth of the UN’s budget.

Squadron described the meeting as “cordial but quite candid,” adding: “Secretary-General Waldheim conceded that the general perception of the United Nations was not to his liking but rejected the charge that he personally was anti-Israel.

“Indeed, Dr. Waldheim insisted with some passion that he was deeply committed to the integrity of Israel with secure and recognized borders; to the cause of Arab-Israel peace and to the application of UN Security Council Resolution 242 as the appropriate method of achieving that peaces.”

REASONS FOR DECLINING UN REPUTATION

During the meeting with Waldheim, which lasted about twice as long as originally scheduled, the Presidents Conference delegation enumerated some of the reasons for what they considered the “rapidly declining reputation of the UN as a force for peace.”

Among the reasons are: the infamous Zionism equals racism resolution, which has been consistently reiterated in UN resolutions on the Mideast and on other issues, such as women’s rights; the “overblown” treatment of the Palestine Liberation Organization as a member-state rather than a mere observer; the per-

mission granted to two ousted West Bank mayors to conduct a vigil on UN premises; the later-disproved charge that Israeli soldiers had mutilated the bodies of PLO terrorists killed in Lebanon; and Waldheim’s personal participation in the recent Islamic summit conference in Taif, Saudi Arabia, which ended with a call for a jihad (holy war) against Israel.

Squadron reminded Waldheim that the Jewish community had helped lead U.S. public opinion in support of the principles of the UN but that in view of the widespread disapproval of these and other actions by the UN and the office of the Secretary General, “the very future of American support for the UN process is now being widely questioned.

“We told Dr. Waldheim,” he continued, “that the Office of the Secretary General had a responsibility to bring this fact to the attention of all of the UN’s member states. Certain kinds of conduct create certain kinds of perceptions. If the UN wants to change the perceptions, it must change its conduct–including the unremitting series of anti-Israel actions.”

According to Squadron, Waldheim said he was obliged to carry out the mandate of the UN member states and that he did not control the UN’s agenda. He also said that his presence in Taif was “routine,” that it was limited to the first day of the meeting, that his predecessors had established the practice of attending meetings of various heads of states and that in his remarks at Taif he had spoken of the integrity of all member states of the UN.

Asked about the “peace medal” which Waldheim reportedly gave King Khaled of Saudi Arabia in Taif, he replied that he had purchased the medallion in the UN gift shop and that anyone could buy one for himself.