Secretary of State Cyrus Vance today flatly ruled out a suggestion that the United Nations Security Council “resolve the problem of recognition” of the Palestine Liberation Organization as a party in the Middle East settlement process at a Geneva conference.
The suggestion was posed to Vance by Rep. Millicent Fenwick (R.NJ) while questioning him on U.S. relations with the UN during the hearing by the House International Relations Committee on anti-Arab boycott legislation.
Three weeks ago, retired Israeli Maj. Gen Matti Peled urged at the Conference of the American Friends Service Committee here that the U.S. press for a resolution in the Security Council to bring the PLO into the Geneva process. Peled said Israel could not refuse such an American move.
Vance, however, told Fenwick that both he and UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim “agree you cannot negotiate a peace agreement in the Security Council” Vance also said he and Waldheim are “working together very closely” on a continuing basis to solve the Middle East situation.
Regarding Fenwick’s query as to the feasibility of a UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, Vance replied that this is up to the Lebanese. “If they really feel it will be useful, they should raise it in the United Nations,” he said. “We have an open mind.”
When Rep George Danielson (D.Calif.) observed that without talking to the PLO it would be like talking to two sides of a triangle. Vance did not respond directly, but said “everybody agrees, including the Israelis, that no settlement can be made without resolution of the Palestinian element.” The Secretary said that Arab governments do not have a unified view on how the Palestinian question should be settled.
NO INITIATIVE FOR GUARANTEES
Vance told Committee Chairman Clement Zablocki (D.Wis.) that the U.S. has “not at this point” taken any initiative in the direction of guarantees for Israel. The Secretary said that if that issue arises it will come up in the peace treaty and Congress would have to act on it.
Rep. Paul Findley (R.III.) congratulated Vance for testifying that the U.S. view “is consonant with international law” in opposing Israel’s drilling for oil in the Gulf of Suez. Vance called the issue “explosive” between Egypt and Israel and said he was trying to “contain it.” The Secretary also said that the movements across borders between Jordan and Israel is “a very positive factor.” He also praised the cooperation by Egypt and Israel in the Sinai as an “excellent experience” that is “a good omen for the future.”
Vance told Rep. Berkeley Bedell (D.Iowa) that the “consensus” among “senior officers” of the government is that the U.S. policy on the sale of arms abroad should be governed by foreign policy objectives rather than economic purposes. Bedell had asked whether a reduction in U.S. arms sales would not damage the U.S. balance of payments in international trade.
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