Senator Edward Kennedy (D. Mass.) strongly attacked the Reagan Administration Friday for supporting the United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel and said it was “profoundly wrong” for the U.S. to have worked with Iraq in drafting the resolution.
“I strongly oppose the decision of the Administration to join in the United Nations resolutions condemning Israel’s military strike against the Iraqi nuclear facility,” Kennedy said in a statement issued here. “It is wrong for the United States to support efforts at the United Nations or elsewhere to condemn, to punish, or to isolate Israel, our surest friend and strongest ally in the Middle East.
“It was wrong for the Carter Administration to vote for a UN resolution last year in condemnation of Israel. It is wrong for the Reagan Administration to do the same this year.
“And it is profoundly wrong for our UN Ambassador to join with the Foreign Minister of Iraq, one of Israel’s most bitter enemies, in drafting this resolution of condemnation. Neither the United States nor the United Nations should censure Israel on an issue of utmost concern for its national security — involving the prospect of nuclear weapons in the hands of a state sworn to destroy the ‘Zionist entity.”
“Instead of assailing Israel, the United States and United Nations should criticize the failure to forestall suppliers of sensitive nuclear technology to Iraq. We should insist that the effort to halt nuclear proliferation must become a major priority for our nation and the world,” the statement said.
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