The Israel Mission to the United Nations issued a statement here last night, following the vote in the Security Council on a resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state, declaring that the only way to advance the cause of peace in the Mideast is “through direct and serious negotiations on the basis of principles set up in the Camp David framework.”
The United States vetoed the Tunisian sponsored resolution, while the four West European members of the Council – France, Britain, Norway and Portugal – abstained. The Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, along with the eight other members of the Council, supported the resolution.
The resolution called for the creation of an independent state in Palestine, for the Palestinian people, called on Israel to withdraw from all the territories it took in June, 1967, “including Jerusalem,” and affirmed the right of the Palestinian refugees to choose between peaceful repatriation and equitable compensation for their property.
In its statement last night, Israel charged that the debate on Palestinian rights in the Council “was launched with the purpose of trying to abstract the only practical process for achieving peace” in the Mideast – the Camp David agreements – and was designed to interfere with the autonomy negotiations for the Palestinians and undermine Security Council Resolution 242.
EXPLAINS THE U.S. VETO
Explaining the U.S. veto, Ambassador Donald McHenry told the Council before the vote that the Camp David accords are the only “politically viable avenue available” for reaching a Mideast settlement.” No one has been able to come up with a working alternative,” he added.
McHenry said that if the current negotiations between Israel, Egypt and the United States on autonomy are successful, they will provide the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza with a real opportunity to manage their own lives for the first time in modern history. He said that on an issue of such importance for the world, for the Palestinians and the Israelis, they (the Palestinians) should not be distracted by approaches that offered no prospect for making practical progress.
Zehdi Labib Terzi, the PLO’s UN observer, told reporters after the vote that a special session of the General Assembly would be sought. Western delegates, however, are reportedly urging that such a move be deferred until after next month’s summit meeting of the European Economic Community in Venice which will discuss the Palestinian question.
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