Israeli diplomats at the United Nations and in Washington expressed gratification today for the historic US veto of a three-power resolution before the Security Council last night that ignored the provocation of Arab terrorism in Munich in connection with Israel’s air strikes at terrorist bases in Syria and Lebanon Friday. Ambassador George Bush, who exercised the second US veto in UN history, was also the recipient of lavish praise from American Zionist leaders and Jewish organizations.
Ambassador Yosef Tekoah, the Israel envoy to the UN, characterized the resolution as “a one-sided text” that ignored the universal menace of Arab terrorism and said: “The negative vote cast by the United States which prevented the adoption of the inequitable draft will be applauded by the people of Israel and all peoples who desire to see the end of violence and the attainment of peace in the Middle East.”
Tekoah added that Israel was determined to halt “the barbaric warfare initiated by the Arab states” and hoped that “effective and stringent” measures would be taken on an international scale to “put a definitive and prompt end to these atrocities.”
Gad Ranon, a spokesman for the Israel Embassy in Washington told newsmen, “The American veto is important as an indication of the American administration’s determination to explore every possible avenue, including the UN, to curb terrorism.” He praised the eloquence of Bush in his “full condemnation of terror and the Arab governments which support It.”
Herman L. Weisman, president of the Zionist Organization of America, sent a telegram today to Secretary of State William P. Rogers commending the US veto. “America’s stand in preventing the UN from once again applying a double standard as between the State of Israel and other member nations is a constructive use of the power of veto in the interests of justice and international cooperation,” he said.
Another telegram in the same vein was sent to President Nixon by Rabbi Israel Miller, president of the American Zionist Federation. He said “The US move underscores America’s sense of fair play and objectivity in a Security Council whose history is punctuated by partiality, injustice and hostility.” Rabbi Miller added that the US veto dealt a blow to the terrorists’ cause and served “as a warning to terrorists’ backers that the United Nations will no longer serve as a forum for an anti-Israel ‘free-for-all.”
Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, stated in a letter to Bush that his organization “commends and applauds the veto of the Security Council resolution on the Middle East.” He said the US veto was “a long overdue sign that the US will not stand idly by and permit the Security Council to continue its decline into a forum for the debasement of justice.”
Mrs. Henry N, Rapaport, president of the National Womens League of the United Synagogue of America said the US veto was “a welcome and much overdue salutary act.” She added that “it was time that other nations also approached the problem of terrorists’ activities in more resolute fashion.”
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.
