The United States veto last Thursday night of a United Nations Security Council resolution, which deplored Israeli policies in the administered territories and Jerusalem, failed to dissipate the anger and resentment following the speech last Tuesday by William Scranton, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, in which he charged that Jewish settlements in the territories. “Including East Jerusalem,” was an obstacle to successful Middle East negotiations.
Anger, as well as concern was also expressed over the fact that 14 of the 15 Security Council members–including England, France. Sweden, Panama, Japan and Italy — voted for the resolution which deplored Israel’s “failure to put a stop to actions and policies tending to change the status” of Jerusalem and called on Israel to refrain from actions against Arab residents in the administered territories.
The resolution also called on Israel “to respect and uphold the inviolability of the holy places which are under its occupation.” and to “desist from the expropriation of or encroachment upon Arab lands and property or the establishment of Israeli settlements thereon in the occupied Arab territories.”
Observers here tended to agree with reported Arab assessments that the Security Council debate proved a success for the Arabs, despite the U.S. veto, because the U.S. had been totally isolated in its support for Israel. The observers pointed out that this was plainly an uncomfortable situation which Washington will not wish to see perpetuated. The Arab view observers noted was that Scranton’s speech last Tuesday was in the final analysis more significant than the veto because it underscored publicly, for the first time in many years, the vital differences between Washington and Jerusalem over a final settlement.
HERZOG SUMMONED FOR CONSULTATIONS
Ambassador Chaim Herzog, Israel’s envoy to the UN, has been summoned home for consultations concerning the debate last week and possible Arab attempts in the near future to exploit what is seen here as a weakening of U.S. support for Israel. There is also concern here about the U.S. Administration’s determined defense of its plans to sell six C-130 military transport planes to Egypt and Egypt’s additional requests to Washington for a great deal of more military hardware.
Scranton, in vetoing the resolution which had been worked out by the Council’s Third World members in talks with Arab and Islamic representatives and those of the Communist bloc, declared that the resolution was unbalanced. He said it did not correspond to the reality of the situation in Israeli-administered territories and that it was wrong to charge that Israel intended to change the religious character of Jerusalem. He said that on the contrary. Israel’s administration of the holy places in Jerusalem “has literally and actively minimized tensions.”
Scranton also stated that the U.S. was trying to “regain momentum in the negotiating process to reach peace in the Middle East,” and that the resolution “would not help” such efforts.
VETO BY U.S. PRAISED
Herzog praised the veto, noting that it was “an effort to stem attempts to convert the United Nations into an instrument of intransigent despotism and to turn the discussion on the Middle East away from one-sided fiction back to reality.”
Similarly, Rabbi Alexander Schindler, chairman of the Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations, who met with Scranton Thursday afternoon, prior to the vote on the resolution, welcomed the U.S. veto and praised Scranton. He said he found the envoy understanding of and sensitive to “the concerns of the American people for the security and dignity of Israel as an essential element of the just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, in an apparent effort to stem any deterioration in Israeli-U.S. relations, told newsmen on Friday after an hour-long meeting with U.S. Ambassador Malcolm Toon that “without the veto there certainly would have been a big crisis, a far-reaching crisis. But thanks to the veto I think the situation has been restored.” Toon, who was asked if there was a crisis, laughed and said: “Not at all.” He acknowledged, however, that Allon was unhappy with Scranton’s earlier speech.
RABIN: SCRANTON’S SPEECH WAS DAMAGING
Nevertheless, Premier Yitzhak Rabin declared in a television interview Friday night that the gravity of Scranton’s speech last Tuesday had not been reduced by the veto. “No speeches by William Scranton and no resolutions or declarations will alter the fact of Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem,” Rabin stated. “It will continue for generations.”
He said that the U.S. cast its veto because Israel had reacted sharply to Scranton’s speech and the U.S. understood the significance of Israel’s protest. “The timing, the place, the style and the cumulative effect of Mr. Scranton’s statement were damaging,” Rabin asserted. Replying to a question the Premier said that Israel’s political and security considerations would continue to determine settlement policy in the administered territories.
In an address Friday to academic circles of the National Religious Party, Rabin said he felt sorry that a mere statement of an American representative, now or in the future, can raise any question as to the Israeli attitude toward Jerusalem. A united Jerusalem is a part and the heart of Israel, Rabin said. “I sometimes wonder at the nervousness of the Israelis,” he said. “Who can influence the fate of Jerusalem? Jerusalem is in our hands. She was united after the Six-Day War and for me this is an unquestionable axiom.” His statement was greeted by prolonged applause.
The Foreign Ministry. In an official statement Friday, also welcomed the U.S. veto but took strong exception to Scranton’s speech. objection to its contents. time and place. The statement reiterated that Jerusalem “undivided is Israel’s eternal capital” and that “secure and recognized borders” would be negotiated in a peace agreement. Israel, the statement asserted, was ready fur such negotiations “tomorrow.”
KOLLEK RAPS ISRAELI GOVERNMENT
Meanwhile, Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek said that Scranton’s speech seemed to prove that even “our friends, the last and only country which remained friendly to Israel,” do not accept Israel’s view on the Jerusalem issue. But he also castigated the Israeli government for its failure to stress that Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish State. While noting that he was happy with the statements and declarations of the government regarding Jerusalem, he added that “those declarations are worthless, and statements will not build this city.”
Kollek attacked the government for “moving” every Thursday to hold its meetings in Tel Aviv. He said it was incredible that there was not even one Hebrew-language newspaper whose main office is in Jerusalem. “The government treats Jerusalem as if it was no different than Haifa or Rehovot,” Kollek said. He also noted that the government showed no understanding in its treatment of the minorities and the Jewish population in Jerusalem.
While a consensus remains “only when we talk of the fact that Jerusalem would remain united” there are “divergent opinions” regarding the rights Israel should give to the Arab population of East Jerusalem. “Each person in Jerusalem has the right to express himself,” Kollek said, “but there is a minority which thinks it can create facts by declarations and demonstrative activities.” This was an apparent reference to the group of young people who tried to pray on the Temple Mount despite the fact that it is forbidden by government regulations.
“We will not succeed in turning any Arab into a Zionist or into someone who identifies and favors our cause in Jerusalem,” he declared. “Whoever thinks that is expecting the impossible.” He added that for a long time “we were walking around in a fool’s paradise. We saw the unification of Jerusalem as a resolved fact–for us and the rest of the world–and we behaved as if our force and power was above anything else.”
HUSSEIN DUE IN WASHINGTON
In a related development King Hussein of Jordan is due to arrive tomorrow in Washington for three days of talks with U.S. officials. During that time, he said on Jordanian television last night, he will explain positions, “clarify ambiguities and put facts forward.” His reference to ambiguities was taken to mean the contrast between Scranton’s speech and his subsequent veto. Meanwhile the Jordanian press condemned the U.S. veto but welcomed Scranton’s earlier criticism of Israel.
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