Diplomatic sources here predicted this weekend a growing United States pressure on Israel in the General As seemly which opens Tuesday. The sources said, however, that the U.S. will continue to vote against Arab-inspired resolutions condemning Israel, but only if the Carter Administration will get the impression from Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan that Israel has new ideas to resume the momentum in the Mideast.
The sources here said that Israel is likely to find itself in utter isolation when the Assembly debates the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. “This will be a major setback for Israel in terms of public opinion,” one diplomat said, noting that all of the 149 UN members conjoin the condemnation of Israel on the issue of settlements.
It was learned, meanwhile, that the Arabs are seeking a special meeting of the Security Council to be held simultaneously with the debate on the Israeli settlements. The Arabs intend, sources said, to discuss the report of the 23-member committee on Palestine rights. They will probably seek to add a phrase to Resolution 242 declaring the rights of the Palestinians to a “homeland,” the sources said.
Dayan, who arrived at Kennedy Airport this afternoon amidst stringent security and was whisked away before reporters could ply him with questions, will address the Assembly Oct. 6. The Israeli delegation to the Assembly will have 18 members this year, including seven permanent ones. According to sources here, Yasir Arafat, PLO chief, is not expected to address the Assembly as he did in 1974.
WALDHEIM PREDICTS EXPLOSIVE SESSION
Meanwhile, Secretary General Kurt Waldheim predicted today that the General Assembly’s annual session will be “rather explosive” because of the Middle East debate. He also warned that unless there is a breakthrough toward peace talks this year, the situation in the Mideast will deteriorate “dramatically” thereafter and criticized Israel’s policy of settlements on the West Bank. Waldheim made his remarks in response to questions on the ABC-TV program “Issues and Answers.”
He predicted “a rather explosive debate” when asked if he thought the anticipated General Assembly resolutions condemning Israel’s settlement policy on the West Bank would help or hinder the situation. He said that Israel’s legalization of settlements on the West Bank “does not really help the negotiating process.” He said the UN and the U.S. are “trying very hard to move forward in the negotiating process to get out of this actual stalemate and therefore decisions of this kind (by Israel) are not helpful.”
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