Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir proposed here yesterday that the democratic nations of the world establish a new organization of their own, parallel to the United Nations which, he charged, no longer serves the purpose of world peace.
Shamir, invited to address an Israel Bonds dinner here tonight, spoke at a press conference for correspondents assigned to the UN in Geneva. He noted that the Arab states had their organization, as did the Eastern bloc countries and claimed it was time the democratic nations had one, too.
According to Shamir, the UN, founded to maintain peace in the world, has erased that task from its agenda thanks to the automatic majority which, he claimed, has made the world organization an instrument against the democratic world in general and Israel in particular.
Shamir denounced the General Assembly resolution of February 5, which demanded punitive sanctions against Israel and branded it a non-peace-loving state, as “untrue, one-sided and scandalous.” He said: “It is a scandal to call Israel a nation that does not love peace when we are going to give back the Sinai in April.” The resolution, adopted by a vote of 86-21, was backed almost entirely by the Arab, Soviet-bloc and Third World nations.
THE TIME HAS COME
Shamir said that analyzing the situation at the UN it is apparent that the democratic countries are a minority, constituting only 30 of the 155 member states. Therefore, Israel believes the time has come for the democratic nations to organize themselves to protect liberty and democracy in the world, he said.
He proposed that the new organization be based on the same foundations as the Parliament of Europe. He also stressed Israel’s determination to continue the peace process in the Middle East. But Shamir said his country was worried by the new supply of weapons to the region where there is already too much arms provided by the Soviet Union and the U.S.
Referring to recent proposals that the U.S. sell Jordan a mobile air defense system and F-16 jet fighters, Shamir said “Jordan does not need sophisticated ground to air missiles and advanced F-16 fighters. The leaders (of Jordan) have repeatedly claimed they could not fight Israel as they had no air force. So why should the U.S. supply them now with these weapons?”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
