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November 7, 2003/Cheshvan 12 5764, Vol. 56, No. 7
Israel on offensive at U.N.
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - After dodging bullets at the United Nations for half a century, Israel has decided to switch tactics.
For the first time, the Jewish state introduced its own resolution in a General Assembly committee, voicing concern for Israeli children living under the threat of Palestinian terrorism.
"Until now we were only playing defense. Now we are playing offense," said Ambassador Arye Mekel, Israel's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.
Introduced Nov. 3, Israel's resolution comes in the wake of an Egyptian-sponsored resolution expressing concern for Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation.
It also comes as Israel fights off several Arab and European attempts at the United Nations to force Israel to make concessions.
Two major efforts under way have materialized the fears that Israel's U.N. ambassador, Dan Gillerman, expressed in a conference call to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations about a month ago.
One was a Syrian-spon-sored resolution at the Security Council - whose resolutions are binding - to force Israel to stop building its West Bank security fence.
That resolution was vetoed by the United States. It later passed in the General Assembly - whose resolu-tions are not binding - by a 144-4 vote.
The second was a Russian resolution circulated last week pressing for implemen-tation of the "road map" peace plan. Pro-Israel activists say that would usurp American influence and empower the United Nations, which is seen as biased toward the Pale-stinians.
In what has become an annual ritual, the General Assembly passes nearly 20 anti-Israel resolutions, almost by rote. Israel chose to respond to the recent Egyptian resolution because it represented a relatively new addition to the batch.
Israel's recent resolution adopts similar language to the Egyptian one, even invoking the same U.N. conventions.
For example, the Egyptian resolution expresses concern over the "continuous grave deterioration of the situation of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and about the severe consequences of the continuing Israeli assaults and sieges on Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps, resulting in the dire humanitarian crisis."
Israel's version expresses concern for the "continuous grave threat to Israeli children from Palestinian terrorism, and about the severe consequences of continuing terrorist attacks by Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade directed against Israeli civilians, including children."
"We are presenting them, we believe, with a moral dilemma," Mekel said. "We are putting them to the test."
The United Nations is likely to fail that test, said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents.
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