U.N. To Deal With Israeli Attacks On Lebanon And On -- Iraq
Israeli Air Force jets attacked Palestinian terrorist bases just 20 kilometers south of Beirut last night. The raid came in response to the firing of mortar shells at an Israeli Navy ship yesterday afternoon near the Israeli-Lebanese border. Israel's retaliation was the first time Israel had attacked so close to Beirut since the IDF withdrew from Lebanon four years ago. Lebanon has submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations against Israel.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said that this is a "clear message to the Lebanese government that we will not accept any attack on our forces from Lebanese territory." MK Yuval Shteinitz, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, acknowledged that the Israelis targeted empty buildings, "but doing so in such proximity to Beirut is threatening to them. Without our deterrence, they would make life intolerable on the northern border."
The UN plans to deal with another complaint against Israel as well, though this one is much older. It concerns Israel's air raid on Iraq's atomic reactor no fewer than 23 years ago. The issue had been pushed off from year to year, as had many other long-forgotten issues, and the current rotating president of the UN General Assembly - a Caribbean Islands diplomat - finally decided to place the issue on the table.
The Israeli delegation to the UN was surprised this week to find "The Armed Israeli Attack on the Atomic Installations of Iraq" on the agenda for the current UN session. Aryeh Mekel, Israel's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, sent a letter to the General Assembly president, writing, "The General Assembly's agenda must reflect the world reality, in order for the UN to be able to make a relevant and significant contribution to world matters... At first glance, it appears that inserting this old issue is more comical than anything else, but in truth, it shows the built-in problems that must be overcome in order to make the General Assembly an effective organ."
Israeli Air Force jets attacked Palestinian terrorist bases just 20 kilometers south of Beirut last night. The raid came in response to the firing of mortar shells at an Israeli Navy ship yesterday afternoon near the Israeli-Lebanese border. Israel's retaliation was the first time Israel had attacked so close to Beirut since the IDF withdrew from Lebanon four years ago. Lebanon has submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations against Israel.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said that this is a "clear message to the Lebanese government that we will not accept any attack on our forces from Lebanese territory." MK Yuval Shteinitz, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, acknowledged that the Israelis targeted empty buildings, "but doing so in such proximity to Beirut is threatening to them. Without our deterrence, they would make life intolerable on the northern border."
The UN plans to deal with another complaint against Israel as well, though this one is much older. It concerns Israel's air raid on Iraq's atomic reactor no fewer than 23 years ago. The issue had been pushed off from year to year, as had many other long-forgotten issues, and the current rotating president of the UN General Assembly - a Caribbean Islands diplomat - finally decided to place the issue on the table.
The Israeli delegation to the UN was surprised this week to find "The Armed Israeli Attack on the Atomic Installations of Iraq" on the agenda for the current UN session. Aryeh Mekel, Israel's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, sent a letter to the General Assembly president, writing, "The General Assembly's agenda must reflect the world reality, in order for the UN to be able to make a relevant and significant contribution to world matters... At first glance, it appears that inserting this old issue is more comical than anything else, but in truth, it shows the built-in problems that must be overcome in order to make the General Assembly an effective organ."