Israel was threatened yesterday with revocation of its membership in the World Health Organization unless it complies with a new resolution demanding that it allow a three-nation committee to investigate health conditions in the occupied Arab territories. The resolution, introduced by Pakistan and supported by the Soviet bloc and China, was adopted by a vote of 57-16 with 16 abstentions.
The United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia joined Israel in voting against the measure, as did seven members of the European Common Market. The other two, France and Italy, abstained.
The U.S. delegate, Dr. S.Paul Erlich, denounced the resolution for discarding “whatever health concerns may originally have been embodied in this question.” Prof. A.M. Davies, of Israel, rejected the claim by the sponsors that the resolution was concerned only with health matters.
The vote came several days after the WHO assembly voted in favor of an Indian resolution to reject the findings of a committee of experts representing Rumania, Senegal and Indonesia that “slow but steady” improvements were being made in health services on the West Bank.
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