U. N. Security Council Discusses Israel’s Complaint Against Syria

The United Nations Security Council considered during the week-end Israel’s complaint against repeated attacks on Israel territory from Syria, and particularly the killing of an Israeli shepherd by Syrian fire on January 23. The Council adjourned without taking any decision and without setting a date for another meeting. All speakers urged full use of the United Nations machinery established by the Israel-Syrian armistice agreement, especially of the Mixed Armistice Commission. (See Israel Cabinet reaction on Page 1.)

Ambassador Abba Eban, head of the Israel delegation, told the Security Council that the Syrian attack in which the shepherd was killed is “not an isolated incident.” He emphasized that the body was found in Israel territory where the entire engagement took place and that the assault was made by the Syrians outside of the demilitarized zone and in a place where the frontier is clearly marked.

Pointing out that the whole of Israel is a frontier, Mr. Ebam said: “Nowhere do men live and work far from the presence of hostile guns. If shepherds peacefully grazing their flocks can be killed by foreign forces from across the frontier, it affects the physical security of the entire nation. No government can accept a situation in which the machine-gun posts of a foreign country are free to kill its citizens and to surround peaceful work on its territory with constant danger. The Government of Israel will not accept this position. “

EBAN OUTLINES THREE ALTERNATIVES; SOVIET DELEGATE ATTACKS ISRAEL

There are now only three alternatives for Israel, Ambassador Eban told the Security Council. “One is to suffer the repetition of such assaults. This is clearly inconceivable. Another is to withstand such aggression by direct action in self-defense. This could be effectively done, but it is desirable on the broadest international grounds to see this as a last, not a first, resort. The third alternative is to seek the aid of the organ on which the members of the United Nations have conferred responsibility for international security, in the hope that its members will express their opinion in support of the cease-fire provisions of the General Armistice Agreement.”

Mr. Eban urged that “an injunction rigorously binding on the Syrian forces” be issued by the United Nations to observe the cease-fire along the border. He noted that this is the third occasion within a few weeks on which a Syrian assault has had fatal consequences. “The attacks themselves, however, have been of more constant occurrence, ” he said. “During the period covered by the complaint of December 4 and the present complaint, Israel has submitted 253 complaints to the Mixed Armistice Commission about penetrations by Syrian forces, 22 complaints of firing–and 229 less serious complaints. There has been a far smaller number of Syrian complaints. “

United States delegate Henry Cabot Lodge said both Israel and the United Arab Republic should give strict orders to their frontier contingents to refrain from firing except in obvious self-defense. But he added that better use should be made of the United Nations pacification machinery set up after the 1949 armistice between Israel and her Arab neighbors–specifically the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization and the Mixed Armistice Commission.

Soviet delegate Georgi Arkadev claimed that Mr. Eban had attempted to “exaggerate” the importance of the incidents. “It must be kept in mind that the Israeli shepherds are armed not like their Biblical predecessors with staffs, but with machine guns, ” he declared. He charged Israel with “ignoring” the U. N. Mixed Armistice Commission and said that Mr. Eban had “studiously avoided” any explanation of why Israel was “boycotting” this commission.

The impression could not be avoided that Israel, in presenting its complaints to the Security Council, was in no way interested in maintaining the Armistice Agreement but was attempting to justify its lack of desire to cooperate with the Arab states in the established UN machinery, said Mr. Arkadev in conclusion. The Security Council should call upon Israel to observe strictly the provisions of the Armistice Agreement and to cooperate with the organs established by it, he stated.