The Soviet Union is on record here today as having expressed a more adamant anti-Israeli attitude than it has shown openly in many years. This was underscored by diplomats today as they examined the verbatim records of yesterday’s Security Council meeting at which Syria and Israel charged and counter-charged each other with aggressions.
Platon D. Morozov, the USSR representative on the Council, went as far as hinting that anti-Israel sanctions and possible expulsion of Israel from the United Nations should be considered if Israel does not heed the Council’s “condemnation” of its recent action against Syria, The Council, said Mr. Morozov, “must examine what further concrete measures are necessary at the present time in order to oblige Israel to carry out its obligations.”
The Russian warned against adoption of any resolution equating Israel with Syria, calling Israel the “aggressor” and exonerating Syria as “the victim.” He used against Israel the harshest terms in his vocabulary, charging Israel with “flagrant” violations, going back to the records of many years to “prove” that Israel has never heeded the rules of the UN Charter or the terms of its 1949 armistice agreement with Syria.
Experts here noted the emergence from yesterday’s debate also the following points of importance:
1. The United States Government is treating this first open Arab-Israeli conflict arising since the Kennedy Administration went into office in such a way that it tries to be on the fence but is, in practice, leaning to the Arab side.
2. The United Arab Republic, in an effort to curry favor with the new, ruling junta in Syria, has set itself up as the voice of the Arabs in the Security Council. The UAR is currently a member of the Council.
3. Israel is staunchly defending its position, asserting categorically that it will not be intimidated by Syria and its friends, insisting that the Council go deeply into the causes of tension and not stop merely at the Israel military raid into Syria on the night of of March 16-17, which Israel views as only the end-result of the underlying causes.
The attitude of Michael S. Comay, chairman of Israel’s delegation, was firm. He not only asserted categorically that Israel will not allow Syrians to fish in Lake Tiberias without permission. He went further and challenged the Syrians to pledge themselves openly before the Security Council to keep the peace.
While pledging Israel to continue adhering to the UN Charter and to the terms of the armistice agreement, he made it clear that such a policy would hold only if Syria also acts peacefully. There was a clear hint in Mr. Comay’s statement that Israel will not continue to let its fishing and police boats on Lake Tiberias suffer Syrian attacks without action of its own.
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