The General Assembly adopted a resolution today condemning “the continuing and increasing collaboration by Israel with the South African racist regime.” The vote was 91-20 with 28 abstentions. Israel did not participate in the vote on that resolution or on any of the nine other resolutions dealing with apartheid as a protest against the “selective and dishonest process” of singling out Israel’s relations with the Pretoria government.
The 20 countries that voted against the anti-Israel resolution were: Australia; Austria; Belgium; Canada; Denmark; France; Guatemala; Honduras; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Luxembourg; The Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Norway; Sweden; United Kingdom; United States;and West Germany. The resolution requested the Secretary General to disseminate widely a special report by the special committee against apartheid on the matter of Israel’s relations with South Africa.
The Arab-inspired resolution was the culmination of repeated Arab attacks on Israel during the debate on apartheid which began on Oct. 26. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN. Chaim Herzog. said in a statement to the General Assembly before the voting that Israel would not participate in the voting on any of the 10 apartheid resolutions.
He said this was because the debate “has been turned into an anti-Israel issue, ignoring as it does the major moral problem of apartheid which should be exercising this body, because those who prepared the resolution against Israel (the Arabs) are guilty of crimes with which they accuse others because what we are called upon to participate in is a monstrous act of deceit and a cynical vote based on international hypocrisy and unscrupulous falsehood.”
Herzog accused the Arabs of turning the debate on apartheid into a debate on the Middle East. He said the Arabs have not the slightest interest in advancing the struggle against racial discrimination in the world and that by their anti-Israel drive, they prejudice “any prospect to achieving consensus on what is close to the hearts of the Africans.” Herzog reiterated that the Arab states have economic ties with South Africa. He named Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Iraq and others.
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