At the same time that the U.S. threatens to deduct the costs of the counter-terrorism wall from its loan guarantees for Israel, it vetoed a resolution by the United Nations Security Council yesterday demanding that Israel not harm or deport Yasser Arafat. The Arab-backed resolution had the support of 11 countries, but the U.S. vetoed it because it did not condemn Hamas at the same time. Germany, Great Britain and Bulgaria abstained in the vote.
Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, told the Council,
"For how long will there be states among us who are willing to continue the charade of touting Mr. Arafat as a legitimate leader committed to the welfare of his people and peaceful relations with his neighbors? The ruin that Mr. Arafat has left behind in Jordan, in Lebanon, and in the West Bank testify that he has brought nothing but despair and devastation to his own people and to other people in the region... It would be a grave error if the Council were to come to the aid not of the victims of terrorism, but of the sponsor and perpetrator [of the terror]."
Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, told the Council,
"For how long will there be states among us who are willing to continue the charade of touting Mr. Arafat as a legitimate leader committed to the welfare of his people and peaceful relations with his neighbors? The ruin that Mr. Arafat has left behind in Jordan, in Lebanon, and in the West Bank testify that he has brought nothing but despair and devastation to his own people and to other people in the region... It would be a grave error if the Council were to come to the aid not of the victims of terrorism, but of the sponsor and perpetrator [of the terror]."