Tekoah: Solution of Refugee Problem Possible; Refugees Used As Pawns by Arabs

Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah told the Special Poli- tical Committee of the General Assembly yesterday that “A solution to the refugee problem is not only desirable, indeed vital, but also possible.” But its attainment, he said, “would require an attitude of understanding and cooperation on the part of the Arab states, an attitude long overdue if it is truly the welfare of the refugees that they seek.” Mr. Tekoah added: “No issue arising out of the Middle East situation has ever been resolved or brought nearer solution through confrontation and discord. It must be evident to all that only agreement between the parties is capable of achieving a settlement.” The ambassador noted that “the Arab states have refused” to cooperate on a five-year plan to solve the problem–a proposal made two years ago by Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban. “There was no reason, no logic in this refusal,” Mr. Tekoah asserted. He indicated that the large influx of Arabs into Israel, making them almost half the country’s total population, represents “a virtual exchange of population.” He added that “The criterion applied in assisting refugees to rebuild their lives has always and everywhere been where they could best live in peace and harmony with society, and not necessarily where they were born.” The Special Political Committee has been meeting on the report of Laurence Michelmore, Commissioner General of the United Nations Belief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). He says the agency is in a financial crisis and that the refugee problem must be solved posthaste. Ambassador Tekoah stated that the Arab governments “turned the refugee into an instrument of continued warfare against Israel,” to serve as “a reservoir of manpower for…acts of aggression.” The Arabs’ suggestion that guerrilla terrorists be given an advisory status with UNRWA and the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) “is an irresponsible suggestion fraught with dire implications.” he said. He observed that despite “impediments,” Israel has admitted some 50,000 refugees since 1948 and 55,000 Arab visitors this year alone, and that since 1967 “little more than half of the permits have been utilized by the displaced persons,”

Mr. Tekoah stressed that “The recent hostilities in Jordan have strengthened even further the need to weigh most carefully the effect that the return of refugees in large numbers would have on public order and security.” He pointed out that according to the UNRWA report, only one-third of the refugees of 1948 live in camps. Two-thirds reside within the general population. He noted that Israel had contributed $2,830,000 to UNRWA since 1967, and that “It is interesting to compare this with the contributions of other governments in the area.” Arabs in Israel are well-employed with high wages, and their children receive increasingly improved education, Mr. Tekoah added, Regarding security, the envoy stated that necessary Israeli measures are mild compared with “drastic” measures by Arab governments. “It is important to note,” he added, “that the refugees themselves are frequently targets and victims of the terror operations”–1,204 of the 2,000 such victims since 1967. He appealed to the Arab governments “to abandon warfare, to forego belligerency and bloodshed and to begin to think of peace and act for peace.”