Tekoah: Beisan Massacre is Arafat’s Repayment to the UN

Ambassador Yosef Tekoah of Israel said today that this morning’s massacre of civilians at Beisan is “Yasir Arafat’s repayment to the United Nations” which accorded him the privilege of addressing the General Assembly last week. if any further evidence is required of “the barbaric, murderous nature” of the PLO or any justification of Israel’s determination to pursue it and not allow the PLO to gain any foothold in Palestine, it was provided by this morning’s events, the Israeli envoy told a press conference here.

The only currency the PLO uses is the “blood of innocent Israeli civilians.” Tekoah said. He noted that the PLO itself claimed responsibility for the Beisan massacre. The Arab governments who harbor and support the PLO must also be held responsible for this “bloodshed” and the governments who supported the invitation to the PLO to participate in the UN deliberations cannot evade responsibility either, Tekoah stated.

He said the attack on Beisan dealt “a grievous blow to the peace-making efforts” in the Middle East. He said that as a result of the Rabat conference, and the UN Palestine debate, tension in the Middle East has increased.

RESOLUTION IS A DANGER TO MIDEAST PEACE

Tekoah warned further that the Arab-sponsored Palestine resolution currently being circulated here, would, if adopted, “enhance the danger of war in the Middle East.” He said that the UN which was formed as an instrument of peace, in recent times, has been as far as the Middle East is concerned, “an instrument of war.” He reiterated Israel’s determination not to deal with the PLO at any time but said Israel was prepared to enter into negotiations with any Arab government.

Tekoah described as a “pre-fabricated” falsehood, a claim by a PLO representative here today that the terrorist assault on Beisan was aimed against Israeli intelligence officers. The terrorists’ victims included two elderly women, Tekoah said. (By Yitzhak Rabi)