Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick of the United States told the General Assembly today that the U.S. will vote against a draft resolution now before the Assembly condemning Israel’s raid on Iraq’s nuclear reactor last June 7 and calling for an arms embargo on the Jewish State.
Kirkpatrick, speaking in the debate on Israel’s raid, termed the draft resolution a “contentious, unbalanced resolution” and dismissed the entire debate, which was initiated by Iraq, as serving “no useful purpose” since Israel’s attack was already considered by the Security Council last June. At that time the U.S. voted in favor of the Council’s resolution condemning Israel.
The American envoy said that the United States friendship with Israel is an enduring fact and would not be altered by “occasional differences.” She noted that countries other than the U.S. sent arms to countries in the Middle East but were not singled out in the draft resolution as was the U.S. She stressed that the U.S. “strenuously objects” to some of the wording in the draft, including a reference to the U.S. which states a grave concern “over the use of American supplied aircraft and weapons by Israel in perpetrating its acts of aggression against neighboring Arab countries.”
ELEMENTS OF THE RESOLUTION
The draft resolution, sponsored by a group of Arab and Third World countries “strongly condemns Israel for its premeditated and unprecedented act of aggression in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international conduct, which constitutes a new and dangerous escalation in the threat to international peace and security.”
The draft also calls on all states to stop shipment of arms and related material to Israel, requests the Security Council to investigate Israel’s nuclear activities “and the collaboration of other states and parties, especially South Africa, in these activities,” and demands that Israel pay compensation “for the material damage and loss of life as a result of the attack.” A vote on the draft resolution is expected late tomorrow.
ISRAEL CONDEMNED BY ASSEMBLY
Meanwhile, the General Assembly yesterday afternoon condemned Israel for its raid on Iraq’s nuclear reactor in another resolution. The vote was 119-2 with 10 abstentions. Israel and the U.S. voted against the resolution. The 10 abstentions came from Latin American and African countries.
The condemnation of Israel was part of a resolution regarding the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. The Iraqis managed to insert a last-minute amendment to the resolution, declaring that Israel’s raid “constitutes a serious threat” to the IAEA. The Iraqi move was not expected and broke the traditional voting of consensus regarding the work of the IAEA.
Ambassador Yehuda Blum of Israel charged that the Iraqis, by inserting the condemnation of Israel into the resolution, demonstrated “total disregard for international efforts to maintain consensus in an area of vital importance.”
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