Israel declared today that its settlements in territories captured since 1967 are legal and in no way constitute an obstacle to peace. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on its first day of debate over Israeli settlements in occupied Arab territories, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Chaim Herzog presented a comprehensive legal argument claiming that Israeli settlements are legal and do not violate international conventions regarding occupied territories. (See P. 3 for EEC statement.)
Herzog said that in the 1967 war when Israel repelled Jordanian forces “they ousted from those territories not the armies of the ‘legitimate sovereign’ but illegal invaders who enjoyed at the most the rights of an occupier.” Herzog argued that Jordan unilaterally annexed the West Bank in 1950 and that has no basis of validity in international law.
Therefore, he said, Israel is not affected by the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Israel “cannot be considered an ‘occupying power’ within the meaning of the convention in any part of the former Palestine Mandate including Judaea and Samaria.”
Herzog added that the Fourth Geneva Convention and The Hague regulations of 1907 ban the ousting of inhabitants of an occupied territory but they do not forbid settlements. As to the accusation by the Arabs and others that the Jewish settlements are an obstacle to peace, he said, “The statement that Israeli settlements among one and a quarter million Arabs is an obstacle to peace is a lie. To say so is to engage in a cynical falsification of history.”
He noted that from 1948 to 1967 Israel did not establish settlements in Judaea and Samaria, Gaza, the Golan Heights or Sinai “because we were not there. There was no such obstacle from 1948-1967. Did the Arabs talk about peace or negotiate peace?” he asked. He charged that the settlements issue is a tool of Arab propaganda against Israel and their “stubborn refusal to negotiate with Israel whose destruction many of them seek.”
ARAB PURSUE RACIST PHILOSOPHY
Herzog also pointed out that the Egyptian resolution in this debate condemns Israel for allegedly changing the demographic character of the territories. He noted that the number of Israeli settlers totals 6000 and that since 1967 more than 50,000 Arabs had returned to those territories. “The purpose behind this resolution is prompted by an Arab desire to pursue the racist philosophy which calls for the exclusion of all non-Arab elements from the Middle East, “Herzog said.
The Israeli envoy reiterated Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan’s statement to the UN recently that the settlements will not determine the final borders of peace between Israel and its neighbors. This will be determined, Herzog said, by negotiations. “All the problems raised here could be solved by negotiations. The issues dividing us can be resolved only when we sit down face-to-face to negotiate.”
EGYPT DEMANDS AN END TO SETTLEMENTS
Egypt, in its address, warned that Israel’s policy of establishing settlements in occupied territories threatens peace in the Mideast and submitted a draft resolution to the General Assembly demanding that Israel “desist forthwith from any such action.” Egypt’s Ambassador to the UN, Ismat Abdel Meguid, called on the world body to take “a strong stand in the face of Israel’s defiance of international law.” He said that Israel already has established 90 settlements in the Sinai, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
He charged that Israel planned “scores of other settlements” with the aim of encircling Arab population centers. He accused Israel of violating the Fourth Geneva Convention and other international laws. Meguid said that the recent extension of government services to the territories on the West Bank was an attempt by Israel to conceal its expansionist tactics.
The draft resolution, sponsored by Egypt and co-sponsored by more than 40 other UN member states, declared that “All such measures and actions taken by Israel in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction of efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
The draft calls on Israel to comply with the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime. It also calls on UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim to contact Israel on implementation of the resolution and report on his efforts to the Security Council and General Assembly by Nov. 15.
Observers here viewed today’s debate as the opening of an intensive Arab offensive against Israel which could result in the complete isolation of Israel when the resolution condemning it will come to a vote. Sources here said today that Washington “is not unassociated” in this attack and added that the Carter Administration, by joining the condemnation of Israel, wants to indicate to American Jewish groups that Israel is utterly isolated. The sources said that when the resolution is voted on, possibly in the next few days, Israel will be the only UN member to vote against it.
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