U.N. pressures on Israel

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33918, 11 August 1975, Page 14

U.N. pressures on Israel

The newly appointed Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations. General Chaim Herzog, when asked how he would fight the efforts of the Arab States to have Israel expelled from the United Nations, recalled Lord Palmerston’s famous description of British policy in the nineteenth century: “ A country has no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests ”. Most Western countries see the preservation of the United Nations from selfdestruction as one of their “ permanent interests ”. As New Zealand’s permanent representative in New York, Mr J. C. Templeton, observed recently, one of the major provisions of the United Nations Charter requires the General Assembly and the Security Council to work together. If the so-called Third World countries—supported by Russia—were to use their voting power in the Assembly to push through an expulsion motion against Israel, it would certainly be vetoed in the Security Council. When in September of last year, a majority of the Assembly voted to suspend South Africa—because of its racial policies—for the remainder of the session, the veto was used by Britain, the United States, and France to nullify the resolution. But the mere fact that the attempt was made caused grave concern, even among delegations which had no sympathy for apartheid. They saw that even temporary suspension could create a harmful precedent: and they recalled the angry reaction when Israel was expelled, on a black African vote, from the Educational. Scientific and Cultural Organisation. The Third World countries might well be the main losers m the long run if the prerogative of the Security Council to veto expulsions and suspensions were ended. Next year, when the post of President of’the Assembly will go to an Asian, it is certain that the pressures against Israel will be renewed, with an outcome than can only be conjectured. But the danger of a repetition of the collapse of the old League of Nations, which began with the withdrawal of the Big Powers, has already been foreseen. The Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr Waldheim, has urged the need for restoring a “ sense of realism ” to the membership by not taking action that might cause another Big Power withdrawal. His warning was emphasised by the United States Secretary of State, Dr Kissinger, who suggested only last month that those attempting to manipulate the membership to further their own ends might find themselves “ inheriting an empty shell ”, The major Powers will continue to conduct their multilateral diplomacy if the United Nations collapses; the small countries will lose their best vehicle for influencing the actions of those Powers.