U.S. Human Rights Report Critical of Israel’s Practices on West Bank, Gaza: but Says Israel is a Dem

The Reagan Administration, in its first annual report on human rights in 158 countries, continued the Carter Administration’s assertions that the Arabs on the West Bank and Gaza Strip do not enjoy-all the democratic rights that exist in Israel itself.

“The Report on Israel says that Israel is a democracy” which has maintained its democratic institutions despite the heavy “pressures” it has been under since the establishment of the Jewish State, including the pressure of war, Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, said today. He noted that under much less pressure, many countries have excused the elimination of democratic practices.

But Abrams, who was explaining the 1981 report which was made public yesterday, said the report was critical of Israel’s practice on the West Bank. It notes that “the full democratic protections that are available in Israel are not available” in the occupied territories, he said. The State Department report lists East Jerusalem as part of the occupied territories.

TRIES TO ‘TELL THE TRUTH’

The report, which must be submitted annually to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House. Foreign Affairs Committee, is drafted by Abrams’ office. Abrams said that he tried to “tell the truth” about both friends and antagonists of the United States. He said that the U.S. first tries to get countries to correct abuses through quiet diplomacy, and only if that fails to get results does it seek to use public pressure.

Abrams said the number of pages devoted to a country in the report has nothing to do with the extent of human rights violations in that country. He said it is more an indication of the complexity of the problem in the particular country and the interest in that country by Americans. Israel has 18 pages devoted to it while the Soviet Union has 13, and most Arab countries eight or less.

OUTLINES ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAEL

The report on Israel notes that the human rights situation there “was virtually unchanged in 1981 from previous years.” The report states: “From its inception in 1948 the State of Israel found itself in a continuing state of war with most of its Arab neighbors, owing to the refusal of the latter to accept its existence and to agree to live in peace with it.

“Israel, has been subjected to an increasing number of terrorist attacks, including bombings and other forms of violence, including for a brief time this years rocket assaults of northern Israeli towns. The absence of peace treaties between Israel and its Arab neighbors (with the notable exception of Egypt) makes security a dominant concern and affects many factors of Israel’s national rights. Israel is a parliamentary democracy which guarantees by law the civil and political rights of its citizens.”

SITUATION ON THE WEST BANK

The report finds little to criticize about human rights in Israel although it notes the Arab minority feels “powerless and largely alienated.” But on the West Bank, the report finds that “the complex human rights situation in the occupied territories particularly in the West Bank and Gaza, where almost all of the settled Arab population is located, is largely a result of the tensions which exist between the occupying authorities and the indigenous population.