U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar is expected to send a personal envoy to Israel, but probably not until the Security Council has finished debating a resolution calling for U.N. military observers to be deployed in the administered territories.
Israel had originally hoped its offer to receive a U.N. envoy would forestall further moves against the Jewish state in the Security Council.
Although Perez de Cuellar issued a statement Tuesday evening saying he was only considering sending his personal representative, Jean-Claude Aime, Israeli and U.S. officials are assuming the visit will take place shortly.
This was buttressed Wednesday, when Perez de Cuellar told reporters he was going to discuss an exact date for the envoy’s visit with Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Yoram Aridor.
Israeli President Chaim Herzog, who met with Perez de Cuellar at noon here, also announced that the secretary-general had accepted an invitation to visit Israel, Israeli officials said.
The invitation was extended during the meeting the two held in Japan at the coronation of Emperor Akihito, officials said.
FEELS A VISIT ‘MIGHT BE USEFUL’
Perez de Cuellar issued a statement Tuesday evening concerning the visit of his envoy, after news reports from France quoted Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy as saying the secretary-general had agreed to accept Israel’s two-week-old offer to receive a lone envoy.
“The secretary-general is considering favorably the idea of sending his representative, Jean-Claude Aime, to Israel and the occupied territories,” said the statement. “The secretary-general continues to be deeply concerned about the situation in the occupied territories and accordingly feels a visit by his envoy might be useful.”
But the statement also said the visit would probably take place after Security Council consultations concerning Israel had finished.
This leaves open the question of whether Aime’s visit will satisfy council members trying to pass another resolution criticizing Israel for, among other things, refusing to cooperate with a U.N. investigation of last month’s riots on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
“It must be recalled that the secretary-general does not as a rule intervene in matters with which the Security Council is seized,” the statement said. “He would not want to prejudice the deliberations or outcomes of the discussion that is taking place in the Security Council at present.”
CONCERN ABOUT PROPOSED RESOLUTION
Israel faces potential trouble from the Security Council on a resolution introduced last Friday by four non-aligned members. It calls for U.N. observers now stationed in Jerusalem to be deployed in the administered territories to monitor the situation and report back to the Security Council.
Debate on the resolution is expected to start up again Friday. It seems unlikely to pass, now that Israel’s offer has apparently been accepted.
But if the resolution does pass, it is unlikely to be implemented, since it is virtually impossible to move observers from the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization without the agreement of the host country.
Some observers here say there is support for calling a meeting of the 164 signatories of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which states that civilians living in occupied territories must be afforded safety and protection.
Israel has signed the convention but does not accept its legal applicability to the administered territories, although it says it abides by the convention’s humanitarian guidelines.
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