NEW YORK — Israeli diplomats are hoping to accentuate the positive at the United Nations when the General Assembly’s 54th session begins next week.
Israel’s incoming U.N. ambassador, Yehuda Lankri — who will replace Dore Gold in November — has already called for Israel to take a more open, less defensive approach to diplomacy at the world body, reflecting the progress on the peace front.
And under newly appointed Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the United States has renewed its commitment to strengthen Israel’s beleaguered position at the world body.
Still, coming on the heels of what was seen as a brutally anti-Israel year in the General Assembly, there is no guarantee that the United Nations will eliminate the negative when it comes to Israel.
This year, Israel is anticipating the annual list of “anti-Israel” resolutions, which will likely call for:
*An end to the annexation of eastern Jerusalem.
*Israel to withdraw to 1967 borders on the Golan Heights.
*Granting Palestinian refugees the rights to their property in Israel.
*Israel’s nuclear disarmament.
*Renewing the mandate of the committees and initiatives designed to keep the “Question of Palestine” in the forefront of U.N. concerns.
Many Jews have also taken offense at the General Assembly’s decision to open its formal debate this year on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Gold, as well as leaders of some Jewish organizations, protested the U.N.’s scheduling decision. The U.N. is closed on major Christian and Muslim holidays.
In a letter to the president of the American Jewish Congress, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed “sincere regret for the discomfort that the decision of the General Assembly may have caused you and members of the Jewish faith around the world.” He said, however, that the calendar was the assembly’s responsibility.
Replying to Gold, the General Assembly’s current president, Didier Opertti of Uruguay, said the date would not be changed.
Because of the conflict with Yom Kippur, President Clinton has refused to deliver the opening address for the assembly’s two-week general debate, as the leader of the host country would normally do. He is scheduled to speak instead on Sept. 21
Holbrooke, who is Jewish, told a recent meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella group, that he would not attend the U.N. opening.
Meanwhile, Israel is preparing to defend itself against a challenge to its credentials by a bloc of over 100 U.N. member states. Though in the past the effort, spearheaded by Arab countries, challenged Israel itself, last year it shifted its strategy to question Israel’s right to represent Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Although the developments on the peace front have not cleared this year’s U.N. agenda of the resolutions targeting Israel, the Palestinian observer to the United Nations said the current “positive atmosphere” in the peace process may lead to less confrontational language.
Nasser al-Kidwa also said that a resolution voicing support for the Middle East peace process might return to its original, less scathing language.
Such a resolution passed each year from 1993 until 1996. In 1997 and 1998, a similar resolution failed because Israel and the United States objected to the insertion of what they saw as inflammatory language about Israel.
Despite more positive wording, however, the essence of the annual resolutions will not change, al-Kidwa said, until the peace process is put into effect on the ground.
“I don’t think, where we stand now would cause miracles at the U.N. at this stage.”
Statehood and full U.N. membership remain the Palestinians’ “central goals,” he said, but the Palestinians would not “take further steps in this regard” until September 2000, when a final peace agreement is expected to be signed.
Israel and the Palestinians launched talks regarding a final settlement on Monday.
Now the Israelis are calling for both parties to the peace negotiations to adhere to “a code of conduct” at the United Nations that would ensure the resolution of outstanding issues through bilateral negotiations, as prescribed by the peace agreements.
Israel is counting on America’s friendship during the session through the person of Holbrooke, a former assistant secretary of state, known for his role in negotiating the Bosnian peace accords in Dayton, Ohio.
“Holbrooke represents a new U.S. commitment to ratchet up American activism on Israel’s behalf in the U.N., especially with respect to the anomaly that Israel is not a member of a regional group,” Gold said
Such membership is essential for eligibility to participate in important committees, including the Security Council. Israel is the only U.N. member state excluded from membership in the groups.
The United States is often Israel’s sole supporter in important votes, but many observers believe that America’s influence at the U.N. is being crippled by its delinquency in paying hundreds of millions of dollars in U.N. dues.