Yosef Tekoah, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, today accused Lebanon of two dozen recent cease-fire violations and the U.N. itself of failing to “deal equitably” with the violations. In a letter to Security Council president Dr. Joaquin Vallejo Arbelaez of Columbia, Mr. Tekoah itemized Lebanese “acts of aggression” that he said had occurred since his earlier plea to the Council last month. He stated that a Feb. 26 sabotage attempt, when “several raiders who had penetrated from Lebanese territory implanted explosive charges under one of the houses in the village of Kerem Ben Zimra,” had been foiled by Israelis who “intercepted and hurled back” the explosives.
Ambassador Tekoah also met with UN Secretary General U Thant late this afternoon to discuss the problem of increasing terrorist actions against Israel from across Lebanon’s borders. In his letter to Dr. Arbelaez, Mr. Tekoah called “false and frivolous a Lebanese claim that Israel had kidnapped four Lebanese shepherds, stating that they were armed and had been returned Monday and yesterday after questioning. “It is evident,” Mr. Tekoah charged, “that the Lebanese government has taken no steps to prevent (the terrorism),” which has “created an intolerable situation for the Israeli population along the Lebanese frontier.” He noted the recent Lebanese-terrorist pact allowing “the use of Lebanese soil as a base of aggression.” The Security Council’s lack of action, he concluded, “does not absolve Lebanon” from its “belligerent policy.”
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