Peru’s United Nations vote February 5 condemning the extension of Israeli civil law to the Golan Heights had no bearing on that country’s traditional “close friendship for Israel” which continues with uninterrupted strength,” according to a top Peruvian diplomat. Alfonso Rivera, Minister Counselor of the Peruvian Embassy here, told representatives of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish Committee that President Belaunde Terry of Peru had emphasized this point in a recent statement in which he described his country’s relations with Israel as “normal and in many respects fruitful, especially in scientific and technological fields.”
In a meeting with Marvin Rappaport, associate director of ADL’s Washington office, and Hyman Bookbinder, the AJCommittee’s Washington representative, Rivero said that the Peruvian UN delegation had specified during the General Assembly debate that it did not support the punitive measures against Israel called for in the resolution.
Noting that his nation is unalterably opposed to sanctions and would also oppose efforts to expel Israel from the UN, Rivero pointed out that Belaunde had said in the same statement: “Israel has a right to a seat in the United Nations and should not be separated from it.”
Rivera’s comments were in response to questions raised by Rappaport and Bookbinder. The ADL and AJCommittee representatives expressed the Jewish community’s shock and dismay at seeing Peru become the only member of the Andean bloc to align itself with the enemies of Israel in voting for the UN resolution.
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.
