The United States delegation here today was drafting a resolution to submit to the Security Council, due to meet tomorrow afternoon, in connection with the Israel and Syrian border clashes on March 17.
American delegation sources, confirming the fact that Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson, chairman of the U.S. Mission, and his aides, have been consulting other Security Council members on a draft resolution, declined to confirm or deny reports that the draft would call for a condemnation of Israel.
There was a reliable, but unconfirmed report, to the effect that France has notified the United States it will refuse to vote in favor of any resolution condemning Israel outright. France, as a permanent member of the Council, has the right to veto any resolution before the body. It was considered unlikely that France would veto any resolution introduced by its American ally, but it was believed that, should the U.S. draft call for condemnation of Israel, France would at least abstain.
Mr. Stevenson, in his statement on the issue before the Council last Wednesday, had stated that “whatever the facts” are in connection with the March 17 action, “they do not, in our view, justify the Israeli reversion to any policy of retaliatory raids.” At the same time, however, Mr. Stevenson conceded that there had also been “provocation” by Syria.
Should the United States delegation present a resolution condemning Israel, it will be sure to have the support not only of the UAR, but also of the Soviet Union, Britain, Rumania, and Nationalist China. Other members of the Council now are Ghana, Chile, Venezuela and Ireland. The chairman of tomorrow’s meeting will be this month’s new president of the Council, Daniel Schweitzer, of Chile.
When the Council meets tomorrow afternoon, it will hear a personal report on the latest outbreak of Israeli-Syrian hostilities from Maj. Gen. Carl C. von Horn. Although he had filed a written report on the Israeli-Syrian issue a week ago, he was summoned to attend the Council-meeting in person, at the suggestion of Mr. Stevenson.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
