YouSaid · the spoken record

Allon

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS ALLON

lines on the record: 102
first: 1974-09-24
most recent: 1976-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Only a peace which serves the interests of Israel and its neighbors will endure. 167. Peace is the foremost objective of Israel, and its Government will not be deflected from the constant effort required to attain it.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“We believe that Security Council resolutions 242(1967) and 338(1973) form the only agreed basis both for the nature of the peace and for the method of achieving it. For that reason we are ready to take part in a reconvened Geneva Peace Conference, with its original composition, at any time acceptable to all. At such a conference, or by any other means which the parties find satisfactory, we would hope to negotiate with each of our neighbors a final peace settlement based on a fair compromise which, on the one hand, will provide Israel with defensible borders, and, on the other, will satisfy genuine Arab interests, including, within the context of the settlement with our neighbor to the east, a just and constructive solution to the problem of Palestinian Arab identity.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The proposal was torpedoed by the USSR, Syria and Egypt. When it was intimated to us that there was no chance at this time for an overall peace treaty and the normalization of relations, we responded favorably to a United States suggestion to negotiate agreements on the termination of the state of war. This proposal has remained without response or acknowledgment from the Arab side to this day. As far as we are concerned, this possibility still exists. 166. Israel wants peace, seeks peace and is ready for peace at any time-a peace which will emerge from the region itself, which will break down the wall of hostility dividing the States of the region and which will be shaped by free negotiations between them.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“But we repeat emphatically that we are prepared now, even before peace is made, to negotiate with our neighbors for a balanced limitation of the inflow of arms into the area in such a manner that the burden will be lightened for all without adversely affecting the security and the defense capacity of any. 164. It causes us no joy that the Middle East is ablaze with conflict, because the peace that we seek is its principal victim. Therefore, in order to keep up the momentum following on the successful conclusion of the 1974 separation of forces agreements with Egypt and Syria and the 1975 agreement with Egypt, we have tried to take additional steps in the direction of a just and lasting peace in the area. 165. We have proposed that the Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East be reconvened with its original membership.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“In the past three years the value of arms supplies delivered by both East and West to the Arab countries in the vicinity of Israel is estimated at $7.5 billion; a further approximately $22 billion worth is contracted for delivery from the end of 1976 onwards, making a total of nearly $30 billion invested in weaponry. This is an utterly staggering sum which is difficult for the human mind to take in. If, instead of being spent on means of destruction, most of this sum was invested in the economic and social development of the area, the Middle East would be transformed and restored to its ancient glory. 163. However, as long as the Arab States continue to arm themselves with highly sophisticated modern weaponry on this vast scale, Israel is compelled to keep up, and will keep up.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“There is clearly a moral to be drawn here. The neighbors of Israel know that their border with Israel is the safest border they have. They know that if they preserve the peace on the borders with Israel then their own borders are secure. Moreover, their people know full well that when they are in distress they can turn to Israel for humanitarian assistance, as the villagers of South Lebanon are doing this day at the fence of goodwill. 162. In my speech last year I drew attention to a problem of particular gravity for the prospects of peace as well as for the economic and social well-being of the countries of the Middle East. I refer to the seemingly limitless flow of weapons of war into the region, resulting in a frantic arms race.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“But the Lebanese conflict, although the most grave, is not the only current conflict in which countries of the Arab world are engaged. There are many others. A random listing makes, indeed, extraordinary reading. 159. There is the bitter quarrel between Iraq and Syria. Then comes Iraq's designs on the territorial integrity of, Kuwait; Democratic Yemen's quarrel with Oman, with Yemen and with Saudi Arabia; Somalia's designs on Ethiopia; Egypt's conflict with Syria; Libya's clashes with Egypt, with Sudan, with Tunisia, with Syria, with Chad and with practically every other independent State in the Arab world and in North Africa; and, finally, the feud between Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania in the Sahara desert. 160. There is only one island of stability in this stormy sea, and that is the State of Israel. 161.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Destroyed in the fires of Lebanon, by the same gangs of terrorists who are the prime instigators of the blood-letting there in Lebanon. 157. Israel is an immediate neighbor of Lebanon, and what goes on there concerns us closely. Our overriding desire is that peace and tranquility should be restored to Lebanon, for that is the essential condition for the reaffirmation of the national independence and the territorial integrity of that unhappy land. Moreover, we expect that the future constitutional structure of Lebanon will* be determined by the citizens of Lebanon in their respective communities, and by them alone; that foreign troops, both regular and irregular, will leave the country; and, above all, that Lebanon will not again become a base for attacks on Israel and its people. 158.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“No one produces this specious argument now, when massive armed intervention by regular and irregular foreign Arab troops is known and admitted-Syrians, Iraqis and Libyans, to mention only the larger contingents. But not a word from the Security Council, not a whisper. 155. The silence of the world Organization in the face of this tragedy is an awful warning to all small States. It is clear that a country which relies on the United Nations for its security, a country which cannot defend itself by its own means, is lost. 156. There is yet another conclusion to be drawn. For years now the world has been bombarded by a propaganda campaign peddling the notion of the replacement of Israel by a so-called secular democratic State where Muslims, Christians and Jews would live in blissful amity. But where is this beautiful mirage now?”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“By now over 40,000 men, women and children have lost their lives and over 100,000 have been wounded-and this out of a total population of less than 2.5 million. A rough equivalent would be a toll of killed and wounded totaling some 13 million in the United States, 15 million in the Soviet Union and 3 million in France. The ruin and devastation are almost beyond description; most of the flourishing towns and villages of Lebanon have become a bloody and merciless wasteland. 154. For a year and a half a Member State of the United Nations has been bleeding to death before the eyes of the whole world. At the beginning it was claimed that this was a civil war, and thus outside the purview of the Security Council.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“I once again call on the Government of the Soviet Union to permit those Jews who wish to leave in order to join their families in Israel to do so. 152. The situation of the Jews of Syria remains tragic: a small community continues to be held as a hostage. Jews are victims of persecution and oppression, are circumscribed in their movements inside Syria, while travel abroad is permitted only under severe restrictions. Surely these 5,000 men, women and children cannot make all that difference to the Government of Syria. Why is it holding them? 153. When I spoke in the General Assembly last year the war in Lebanon was but six months old. At that time some 5,000 people had already been killed and nearly 18,000 wounded. Twelve months have passed since then; the carnage goes on.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Those criteria are that detente must apply to the Middle East no less than to Europe and to other areas of the world, and that the humanitarian provisions of the Helsinki agreement must be scrupulously applied. On both counts detente has been a grievous disappointment to us. 151. I declare that detente has not been felt in the Middle East. Moreover, I regret to record that there has been no improvement in the situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union during the past year. Exit from the Soviet Union-a right guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the Helsinki agreement-is still severely restricted, while those Jews who do insist on their rights are subject to continued harassment by the authorities, to dismissal from their places of employment, and in some cases to arrest and imprisonment.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“It is equally specious to single out Israel for links with South Africa when most of the world maintains links with that country. According to the latest available statistics, the foreign trade of South Africa totaled over $12 billion in 1974. Of this huge sum Israel's share was less than two fifths of 1 per cent-infinitely smaller than the share of many Arab and some African countries. The armed forces of the Republic are large and equipped with modern weapons -tanks, artillery, aircraft, destroyers and submarines. It is not Israel that supplied them. 150. In my address to the General Assembly last year I stated that as far as Israel was concerned we had two criteria for judgment on the policy of detente which was given formal expression in the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Only by close multilateral co-operation and concerted organized action between States which really intend to fight terrorism will this atrocious crime be suppressed. 148. The enemies of Israel in this Organization strive mightily to convince the world of similarities between Zionism and apartheid, and make much of the relations between Israel and South Africa to bolster a fraudulent case. Racism and racial discrimination, in any guise, including apartheid, are abhorrent to my country and my people. The basic tenets of Judaism are irreconcilable with any form of racial discrimination. The Jews are the classic victims of racial discrimination and over the centuries our martyrs have run into the tens of millions. 149.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Israel thus welcomes the proposal made on 28 September by the Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany that the United Nations should draft a convention banning the taking of hostages internationally and providing for the prosecution or extradition of the perpetrators f 7th meeting, para. 113]: This is an important step in the right direction and the General Assembly would lose all credibility as an effective international instrumentality if it failed to take it. 147. But in view of the extreme gravity of the problem and the sorry performance of the United Nations in dealing with it, we would be deluding ourselves if we imagined that that would be enough.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The terrorism of today is especially deadly for three principal reasons: the availability to terrorists of sophisticated modern weapons capable of causing mass loss of life and destruction; the complicity of certain States which supply these weapons, frequently delivered in their diplomatic bags, and which provide the terrorists with shelter and comfort; and the abhorrent practice of taking innocent hostages as a means of blackmail. 145. The rescue by Israel in July of the hostages hijacked to Entebbe in the Air France airbus has shown that given the will it is possible for even a small State to combat terrorism effectively. However, operations such as that would not be necessary if potential hijackers and terrorists knew that nowhere in the world would they get refuge and support. 146.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Nobody is immune; and some of the States whose representatives were the most eloquent in thwarting any effective United Nations action have themselves been victims of terrorism in the past few weeks-Yugoslavia, India; Egypt and even Syria. The item, now distorted so as to appear like an apology for and justification of terrorism instead of a call for action to suppress it, is still on the agenda of the General Assembly, but is is conceded by all that nothing will ever come of it. 143. The issue is a fundamental one for the international community, for the attitude this Organization takes on the question of terrorism is a very clear reflection of its moral strength and international responsibility. 144.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“In 1972, after the massacre of the Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games by a gang of Arab terrorists, the Secretary-General proposed an item for the agenda of the General Assembly on measures to prevent terrorism and other forms of violence which endanger or take innocent human lives or jeopardize fundamental freedoms.7 We all know what happened to that praise-worthy venture: it was deliberately sabotaged by a group of States whose interest was not to prevent terrorism but to encourage, aid and abet it on the evident assumption that, because it seemed to serve their own interests, they would be immune from harm. 142. They were grievously mistaken.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“A goodly number of representatives who have spoken before me have raised their voices in condemnation of international terrorism, which these last few years has spread over the face of the earth like a malignant cancer. 140. There is no excuse for terrorism. No cause can justify or condone it. It is a criminal activity, totally indiscriminate in its effects, which by design strikes at the very elements of the population that every society tries to protect-the innocent, the weak, the defenseless, children and women. 141. The record of the United Nations in combating terrorism is dismal.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The trend towards unilateral decisions by individual States concerning the increase in the width of their territorial sea or the proclamation of economic zones is asserting itself without a parallel international reaffirmation of proper rules to guarantee the essential freedom of navigation and overflight on the seas and through and over straits. This is a regrettable situation which cannot but result in an increase in international tensions. 138. Another problem which is still without solution is that presented by the lofty idea that the sea-bed beyond the economic zones constitutes the common heritage of mankind. A realistic compromise between this concept and its practical application for the benefit of all nations is still apparently far away. 139.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“In view of the forthcoming United Nations water and desertification conferences scheduled to take place next year, the practical experience of Israel in water exploration and management as well as in the development of highly efficient methods of irrigation, which has already aroused much interest in a number of countries with similar problems to our own, might well prove to be susceptible of wider application. 136. The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea has just concluded its fifth session here in New York, and it is a matter of some disquiet that it has not achieved any significant progress in the direction of an acceptable international agreement. 137.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“For many years now it has been the policy of the Government of Israel to conduct programs of technical co-operation with other emerging and developing countries and, indeed, it is a source of pride to us that, with all the limitations which nature has imposed on us, and saddled as we are with tremendous burdens caused by the absence of a peace settlement in the Middle East, we are at this very moment co-operating in one technical field or another with over 50 countries represented in this hall. 135. One such important field is water development in semi-arid climates.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“As our sage Hillel taught some 2000 years ago: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me; but if I am only for myself, what am I; and if not now, when? " 133. For our part we have tried, at the seventh special session and at the fourth session of UNCTAD, to present some ideas which some delegations found useful and constructive. 134. What we can best do is to put our experience in overcoming some of the major problems which beset a large part of the developing world at the disposal of all who wish to avail themselves of it.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The effort to bring into being a new order in international economic and trade relations has become a major focus of interest and debate throughout the world and in the United Nations system. 131. Israel belongs to a small group of countries in the developing world which, though meagerly endowed by nature, have by hard work and the application of science and technology reached a promising level of development. These countries have a special role to play because they show what can be done even in the most difficult of circumstances. 132. It is thus important, I believe, that developing countries consider not only what the fortunate countries of the industrialized world can do for them but what they can do for themselves and what they can do for one another.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“It must be cured, however, of the grave maladies which afflict it: there must be a return to the Charter; there must be an end to the rancorous confrontation which is the dominant feature of our deliberations; consultation and agreement must be restored to their primary place; the United Nations, and particularly the specialized agencies, must abandon the dangerous path of politicization along which they are being dragged by Arab obsessions about Israel, so that they may devote themselves to the social, humanitarian, scientific and technical tasks which they were set up to perform and which they perform very well when they are allowed to do so; and, lastly, there must be full participation of all Members in all United Nations activities on an equitable basis, by strict alphabetical rotation, instead of the discriminatory bloc system. 130.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“One is the ludicrous and evil attempt to stigmatize the national liberation movement of the Jewish people as racism and racial discrimination; the other is the bizarre episode of the Committee of 20 members, from the resolution which the General Assembly was not competent to adopt; through the biased and non-representative com-position of the Committee itself, to the report of the Committee which is not only a flagrant intervention in the domestic jurisdiction of a Member State but also a prescription for its dismemberment by stages. 128. History will consign these resolutions to oblivion, and those countries which supported their adoption will bear the shame. 129. But the United Nations system is an essential feature of the international scene of our times and it is hardly possible to conceive of a world without it.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“The list of discrepancies between the current practices of the United Nations and what the Charter says is long, and there is no need to labor the point. 126. To a great extent the General Assembly has become an arena for empty rhetoric and arbitrary recommendations which have little to do with right, justice and international reality. Indeed, there appears to be no limit to the absurdity which the General Assembly, as it operates today, can reach it even achieved a record in futility by adopting, at the same session, two conflicting resolutions on the same subject. 127. Two further examples from the record of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly demonstrate that clearly.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“It is indisputable that world public opinion has become increasingly disenchanted with the United Nations; increasingly frustrated by the opportunism and hypocrisy of so much of its debates and decisions; increasingly disgusted by the power of a mechanical majority to bend the Organization to its own purposes, by, for example, transforming an initiative designed to outlaw terrorism into an apologia for terrorism; or by converting the Commission on Human Rights into a forum in which the guilty are the accusers and the innocent condemned, In the twisted terminology which is used here a defeated aggressor is portrayed as a victim, a successful defender as an aggressor; those who refuse to treat with their neighbors are hailed as lovers of peace, and those who seek peace negotiations branded as warmongers. 125.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“One must ask, however, if the principles of the United Nations Charter, as they were determined in San Francisco 31 years ago, have proved equally resilient; if intellectually and morally the United Nations has withstood the test of experience -the experience of a generation which, although it has been spared the devastation of a world war, has still seen major armed conflict, massacre, political terrorism, slavery, tyranny, persecution, hunger and poverty in all too many areas on the surface of the globe for every minute the United Nations has been in existence. Regrettably, the answer must be negative. 124.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Permit me to join the representatives who have spoken before me in the general debate to proffer to you, Sir, the congratulations of the delegation of Israel on your unanimous election to the high and responsible office of President of the General Assembly. 122. I also tender my delegation's good wishes to Mr. Gaston Thorn, who presided over the deliberations of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly with such distinction, and to our Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, for his devotion and assiduity in the performance of his onerous duties. 123. What is the aspect of the'United Nations as it enters into its fourth decade? Physically, the Organization works well.”
1976-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 31 (1976)
“Zionism is the revival of an ancient language and culture, in which the vision of universal peace has been a central theme. Zionism is the embodiment of a unique pioneering spirit, of the dignity of labor and of enduring human values. Zionism means creating a society, however imperfect it may still be, which tries to implement the highest ideals of democracy political, social and cultural for all the inhabitants of Israel, irrespective of religious belief, race or sex. Zionism is, in sum, the constant and unrelenting effort to realize the national and universal vision of the prophets of Israel.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“It is painful to me to see a group of nations, many of which were recently liberated from colonial rule, deriding one of the most noble liberation movements in this century a movement which not only gave an example of encouragement and determination to the peoples struggling for independence but also actively aided many of them during their period of preparation for independence and immediately thereafter. 68. What is the essence of Zionism? Zionism, in a nutshell, is the modern expression of the ancient Jewish heritage. Zionism is the national liberation movement of a people exiled from its historic homeland and dispersed among the nations of the world. Zionism is the redemption of an ancient nation from a tragic lot and the redemption of a land neglected for centuries.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“Let me state with equal emphasis that, on this the thirtieth anniversary of the liberation of the survivors of the gas chambers and the concentration camps, the Jewish people will not tolerate a revival of the cancer of anti-Semitism. One cannot here escape a tragic reflection how many of the 6 million victims of the Nazis would be alive today if it had been given to the Zionist movement to create the State of Israel before that catastrophe? 67.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“I hope that the Soviet Union will live up to the spirit of this historic agreement and will enable the Jews who aspire to be reunited with their brethren in their ancient homeland to do so without hindrance. For us this is the touchstone. 65. Finally, in addressing the General Assembly I cannot ignore a grave development which affects the Jewish people wherever they may be. This is the mounting of a despicable attack on Zionism by associating it with abhorrent political concepts. 66. Let me state categorically that anti-Zionism is but a euphemism for anti-Semitism. Subscribing to a resolution condemning Zionism means an endorsement of anti-Semitism and the legitimization of aggression against Israel.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“Harold Wilson, expressed this eloquently in his address to the Conference in these words: "Our work here will be judged not only by the spirit of 'live and let live' which this Conference asserts. It will be judged by how that spirit is reflected in the lives of ordinary families, by such issues as the reunification of families ... I hope that what we have each today committed ourselves to within Europe can apply also to those within our countries who want to go to start a new life outside Europe, whether in the Middle East or elsewhere." 64. None of the noble provisions of the Final Act have yet been applied to the Jewish national minority in the Soviet Union. For them the Helsinki agreement is still a piece of paper, and detente is still far over the horizon.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“In this connexion we have of course noted the following passage in the address of the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union to this Assembly on 23 September: "Assessing highly the results of the Conference, the Soviet Union believes that the main task now is to translate the understandings reached into deeds . . .". [2357th meeting, para. 128.] 63. As far as Israel is concerned, we have two criteria for judgment: one, that detente must apply to the Middle East no less than to Europe and to other areas of the world and so far we have seen no evidence of this; two, that the humanitarian provisions of the Final Act signed at Helsinki must be scrupulously applied. The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Mr.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“By negotiations we mean a process of intergovernmental consultation similar to that which preceded the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco) and other international instruments of like character. We do not think that so grave a matter can be settled by correspondence through the Secretary-General. 61. Israel welcomes the signature of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which gave formal expression to the spirit of detente. Only the future will tell if this instrument will serve as a guide for the conduct of the nations in the years to come, or whether it will remain a compilation of pious hopes, like so many international instruments which have been adopted since the end of the Second World War. 62.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“Israel is forced to take part in this senseless competition because, given the circumstances in the area, if it did not it would invite immediate aggression. But Israel is ready at any time, even before peace is made, to consult with its neighbors on measures to limit the arms race, with all its dangerous consequences, without materially affecting the relative defensive capacity of any of the parties to the consultation. 60. Israel supports the proposal for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East and will be ready to enter into negotiations with all States concerned in order to attain that objective.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“If one were cynical one might almost suspect that the reason, in both cases, is to weaken Israel in one case by boycott, and in the other by depriving it of the means of defense. 58. Be that as it may, the problem of arms control in the Middle East is real and urgent. The area is being swamped by a flood of new and sophisticated military hardware, such as it has never known in all its long history. Each month that passes raises the level of technology, and the price. Tens of billions of dollars which might otherwise be spent on economic and social development and it must be realized that the population of large parts of the Middle East is among the poorest in the world are drained off to pay for these instruments of human destruction. 59.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“We have only to look at the more than 800,000 Jews who have left, or have been driven out of, the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa since 1948, or at the tortured existence of the 4,500-odd Jewish hostages left in Syria today, to know what the fate of the Jews of Israel would be if the PLO nightmare were realized. But we know and they know that this will never be. 57. It is one of the anomalies of our times that Israel, which is rigorously excluded from the Middle East region in all that concerns the civilian pursuits of the United Nations and its specialized agencies such as health, education, meteorology, trade and civil aviation is emphatically held to be a part of the Middle East region when the discussion turns to military matters, including the supply of arms.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“This facile slogan, this transparent propaganda gimmick, has somehow found support among naive and well-meaning people. What is the pattern which the progenitors and supporters of this idea propose to follow? For lack of anything more promising they themselves have put forward the example of Lebanon: Lebanon, which since April of this year has been torn apart by a vicious, sectarian civil war between its Moslem and Christian communities. The latest published estimate of the casualties during these past six months is more than 5,000 killed and nearly 18,000 injured. The material damage is estimated at $2,500 million. The PLO knows what it means when it talks about the democratic and secular State of Palestine. So do we.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“This congeries of feuding terrorist gangs, whose principal victims are the Arabs of Palestine themselves and whose primary aim is the annihilation of the State of Israel and the genocide of its people, is neither a valid representative of the Palestine Arab community nor a valid interlocutor for Israel. 55. It should cause no surprise that at the spearhead of the frenzied efforts of the extreme regimes in the Arab world to prevent a political settlement of the Middle East dispute, and to disrupt the recent agreement between Egypt and Israel, is precisely the PLO. 56. There is nothing more fraudulent than the scheme of this faction to establish, naturally on the ruins of Israel, a so-called democratic secular State in which Moslems, Christians and Jews would, as it were, live in amity and equality.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“The solution to their problem therefore demands a change of attitude in the Arab world. The Palestine Arab problem should and can be solved in the context of a peace agreement between Israel and Jordan, which constitutes the major part of the area of historic Palestine on both sides of the river as well as being the homeland of the great majority of the Palestine Arabs. 54. Thus if the matter at issue is a fair and constructive solution for the problem of Palestine Arab identity. Israel's response is emphatically positive. But it is categorically negative about the absurd pretensions of the so-called Palestine Liberation Organization to speak in the name of the Palestine Arabs.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“It will therefore give the idea put forward by the Secretary of State of the United States, Mr. Kissinger, for an informal multilateral consultation most earnest consideration. 53. As I emphasized in my statement at the General Assembly last year, it is self-evident that genuine peace in the Middle East must include a just and constructive solution for the Palestine Arab problem, Israel is fully alive to this problem, probably more so than the majority of those who pronounce freely upon it, and we do not require persuasion of the need to solve it peacefully and honorably. Indeed we insist that this be done. For far too long now the Palestinian Arabs have been used as a pawn on the chess-board of inter-Arab politics; throughout the years they have been the victims of Arab extremism.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“I note with regret repeated statements made by the leaders of Syria which reject the whole concept of a genuine peace treaty with Israel. Nevertheless, I should like to hope that this is not their last word. And for our part I solemnly reiterate that the Government of Israel is ready and willing to enter into peace negotiations with Syria without prior conditions, as called for by Security Council resolution 338 (1973), at any place and at any time. 52. In this connexion I wish to emphasize that as far as Israel is concerned the Geneva Peace Conference can be reconvened whenever the parties are ready for it, following adequate preparation. Moreover, in principle, Israel is in favor of any mechanism which will advance the process of negotiation between the parties to the conflict.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“We do not delude ourselves that this will be a simple undertaking, for the making of peace after so many years of hostility and suspicion will call for qualities of moral courage, understanding and tenacity far greater than those needed for the waging of war But the beginning must be made-for the sake of this generation and for the sake of the Israeli and Arab children who were surely born to live and create and not to die on the battlefield. 51. Security Council resolution 338 (1973) calls for "negotiations . . . between the parties concerned aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in 'the Middle East". From this rostrum I declare that Israel is ready to enter into such negotiations with each and every one of the neighboring States.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“I wish to include in this tribute the commanders, officers and men of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, who also play an important role in the area, and to the Governments which have contributed their personnel to all three United Nations forces. 50. As far as we are concerned, the new agreement is not an end, but the beginning of a process of peacemaking.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“As I have already stated, both parties to the agreement have recognized the essential role played by the United Nations Emergency Force and I wish to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to the officers and men of the Force, who are performing a difficult and delicate task in an exemplary manner; to Lieutenant General Ensio Siilasvuo, who has been identified with the peace-keeping efforts of the United Nations in the Middle East for many years and who has gained the respect and regard of all parties; and to the Secretary-General, who is ultimately responsible for this successful United Nations enterprise.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“And beyond that we hope that this agreement will pave the way to better relations and peace with all our neighbors. 48. It is a proper opportunity to stress here that the agreement, in all its particulars, was concluded, in response to the free will of two sovereign States. If Egypt and Israel consider that the agreement is advantageous to them and, moreover, it is a step not directed against any other party nobody in this General Assembly has the right to censure it or to set himself up as an arbiter of the interests of the parties directly concerned. 49.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)
“The significance of the agreement does not lie only in the pledge of the parties to continue to observe the cease-fire and to refrain from all military or paramilitary action, or in their undertaking not to resort to the threat or use of force or military blockade, or in their recognition of the essential role of the United Nations Emergency Force and the necessity that it continue its functions, or in the provision concerning the passage of non-military cargoes to and from Israel through the Suez Canal, or even in the renunciation of war as a means to settle the differences between them; rather its significance lies in the belief that it opens a new chapter in the relations between the two countries. Israel for its part will do all it can to ensure that this new chapter will indeed be one of peace.”
1975-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 30 (1975)