Mohammed H. el-Zayyat, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, charged in the General Assembly today that a “power-drunk” Israel was undercutting the United Nations and said that only “Joint international action” could overrule “Israel’s utter disregard for the UN and its resolutions,” Zayyat did not specify what action he had in mind, but contended that “inaction would only be interpreted as condoning aggression.”
Zayyat. who was formerly the Egyptian Ambassador to the UN, accused Israel of “preconceived and pre-planned expansionism,” alleged that Zionism was attempting “to dominate as much of the Middle East as it possibly can,” and assailed Israel’s Foreign Minister Abba Eban for his criticism of the UN’s efficiency as a peace-making body in his Sept. 28 address to the General Assembly. “Not once” did Eban mention UN resolutions designed to safeguard “peace and security,” the Egyptian diplomat said.
Observers here saw Zayyat’s speech as an attempt to rally Arab, Soviet and “Third World” support for Egyptian efforts to isolate Israel and to alienate its supporters, principally the United States. The fact that Zayyat chose the final day of general debate to deliver his speech was seen as significant despite the official Egyptian explanation that he postponed addressing the Assembly earlier because he was suffering from a sore throat.
Zayyat spoke following meetings last week between Egyptian representatives and US Secretary of State William P. Rogers. Some sources believe he postponed his speech to the final day as a pretext for extending conversations with US officials. The sources said that the Egyptians were trying to feel out Washington as to how far Zayyat could go in his speech without inflaming US opinion.
SOFT STANCE ON U.S.
His speech was almost devoid of criticism of the US although he referred at one point to American military aid with which Israel “can sustain Its occupation of our lands…and protect it against any UN action.” A Western source close to the Middle East situation called Zayyat’s presentation “defensive.”
Zayyat referred four times to Israeli “terrorism” but made no mention of Arab terrorism in general nor to the Lod Airport massacre last May and the Munich killings In Sept. He made a special plea for the “Palestinian people,” accused Israel of “disdainfully rejecting” UN resolutions and the Feb. 8,1971 aide-memoire of UN Ambassador Cunnar V. Jarring, and said that his country sought “dignity and freedom…progress and advancement.” His references to the Soviet Union, whose personnel were expelled from Egypt last July, were minimal and he made no references to the People’s Republic of China.
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