Rabin backs army, criticises U.S.

Press, 15 February 1989, Page 10

Rabin backs army, criticises U.S.

By

JONATHAN KARP

of Reuters in Jerusalem

The Defence Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, condemning United States charges of Israeli human rights abuses, has firmly defended his troops’ actions in a 14-month Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Troops clamped a curfew on the West Bank village of Kabatiya yesterday to prevent unrest after a Palestinian teenager died when an object he was playing with exploded in his face. Two other youths were wounded in the incident.

ashamed of what we are doing,” Mr Rabin told Parliament, answering three motions of no-con-fidence over the report. He criticised Washington for ignoring the origin and nature of the violence and said that had the Palestinians not initiated the anti-Israel demonstrations — which erupted in December, 1987 — Israel would not have had to call in the army.

tors. At least 387 Arabs and 15 Jews have died in the revolt. Blit Mr Rabin asserted that troops were acting with\ restraint in lifethreatening situations. “I do not know of any other army in any Western democracy, let alone Arab and communist countries, that conducts itself with such restraint

with force,” he said. In the West Bank, troops imposed a curfew on the Nur Shams refugee camp yesterday after Palestinians threw stones at a car driven by an Israeli soldier, smashing the windows but causing no injuries, Israel Radio said.

An army spokesman said the object might have been an unexploded flare that fell from an air force plane during a training flight over the area. He said the youths may also have been preparing a home-made bomb. In his first reaction to last week’s State Department report that accused Israeli troops of using excessive force against Palestinian demonstrators, Mr Rabin gave his full backing to the army, which he said was fighting for Israel’s security. "We have nothing to hide because we are not

A small group of Jewish settlers searched an Arab village near the Alfei Menashe settlement for suspects in stone attacks on cars. An Alfei Menashe ’ man died last week when his truck was gutted by what police believe was a petrol bomb. In the Golan Heights, extra police were deployed ahead of expected demonstrations today, the seventh anniversary of Israel’s decision to extend Israeli law to the Golan, captured from Syria in 1967.

... in the face of provocations and violence.”

“This is not violence to achieve the rights of man or humanitarian rights, it is violence with a political end, far-reaching aims, which ... endanger the future and security of the State of Israel,” he said.

Mr Rabin, who recently initiated talks with prominent Palestinian activists in the occupied territories in search of a political settlement, nevertheless warned of a military crackdown if Arab attacks on Israelis persisted.

At the United Nations, Security Council members were considering tabling a resolution condemning Israel for violating human rights and opening fire on Palestinian demonstra-

“If the residents of the territories want a solution, it will be at the negotiating table. If they want to continue with violence, violence will be answered