Yosef Tekoah, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, said today that Israel will face serious trials at the General Assembly session in New York opening this week. He predicted, however, that Arab efforts to impose sanctions on Israel would be over come and that the Arabs ultimately will be convinced that the only way to solve the Middle East problem is through negotiations. (See News Analysis P. 3.)
Tekoah, who left for New York this morning, said before departing that two of the most crucial issues coming before the General Assembly at its fall session are international terrorism and the admission of the two Germanies to the UN. He indicated that Israel would welcome the entry of the West German Federal Republic into the world organization but would oppose admission of the East German regime.
The Israeli envoy, when he addresses the General Assembly, is expected to draw a sharp distinction between the Bonn government, which has paid reparations to the survivors of the Nazi holocaust, and East Germany, which has consistently refused. He is also expected to point out that East Germany has agreed to the opening of a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in East Berlin that will serve as the center for terrorist activities in Europe.
UN UNABLE TO COMBAT TERRORISM
Referring to the issue of combatting terrorism, Tekoah said the UN so far has proven itself impotent in that respect. The only way to fight terrorism is for the nations sincerely interested in doing so to band together to pass practical resolutions that will have that effect. So far, this has not been possible in the UN because of the numerical factor of the Arab states and their allies, Tekoah said.
The Israeli Ambassador will meet with Secretary General Kurt Waldheim in New York for a report on the latter’s Middle East visit earlier this month. Circles here doubt that Waldheim’s trip achieved much progress in bringing the parties closer to negotiations, judging by statements from Egyptian leaders in Cairo and later at the non-aligned summit in Algiers. According to Tekoah, there is little likelihood that Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring’s Mideast peace mission will be resumed in the foreseeable future.
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