Haaretz
Tishrei 21, 5765
NEW YORK - The United States on Tuesday vetoed a
United Nations Security Council draft resolution demanding that Israel
stop a major offensive in the Gaza Strip that has cost at least 80
Palestinian lives.
A total of 11 nations voted in favor. Britain,
Germany and Romania abstained on the measure drafted by Arab
nations.
Arab nations demanded in a draft UN Security Council
resolution Monday that Israel immediately halt its incursion into northern
Gaza.
The draft resolution, submitted to the council in an
emergency meeting convened at the request of Arab nations on Monday, calls
for an immediate halt to the offensive and calls on Israel and the
Palestinians to immediately implement the internationally-backed road map
peace plan.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman expressed
his happiness after the vote and said that the resolution only condemned
the victim and not the attacker.
Gillerman added that the nations
which abstained showed courage while those that voted in favor were
cowards.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Danforth cast the U.S. veto
after British and German efforts to find compromise language
failed.
"Once again, the resolution is lopsided and unbalanced,"
Danforth told the council just before voting "no."
"It is
dangerously disingenuous because of its many material omissions. Because
of this lack of balance, because of these omissions the resolution lacks
credibility and deserves a 'no' vote," he said.
After the vote,
Algeria's UN Ambassador Abdallah Baali, the only Arab member of the
council, thanked the resolution's supporters and noted that the measure
got more than the minimum nine "yes" votes needed for adoption absent a
veto by one of the five permanent council members.
"It is a sad day
for the Palestinians and it is a sad day for justice," Baali
said.
The U.S. had earlier on Tuesday rejected a Russian-sponsored
compromise to balance a UN Security Council condemnation of Israel for its
operation in the Gaza Strip with a condemnation of Hamas for firing Qassam
rockets at the western Negev town of Sderot.
Danforth had said
Monday that if the resolution was passed "it would be a very terrible
statement for the Security Council to make" because he said it acquiesces
in terror against Israelis.
Shalom holding talks with European
counterparts
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Tuesday held a
series of talks with his European counterparts in an effort to prevent a
unilateral condemnation of Israel.
Shalom met with foreign
ministers from the Netherlands, Russia and Great Britain. He asked them to
oppose any resolution that does not also condemn Qassam rocket attacks on
Israel.
The European ministers said they condemn the attacks on
Israel, but expect Israel to respond to them in a manner proportional to
the Qassam threat.
Baali, the only Arab member of the council,
requested the open meeting following the nearly weeklong Israeli offensive
- the largest of its kind launched by Israel in four years in
Gaza.
"Taking into account the gravity, the urgency of the
situation, the seriousness of the situation, we need to have the Security
Council take a decision quickly - and quickly means Tuesday at the
latest," Baali said.
Gillerman, referring to the Security Council
debate, said Monday that, "In the past, as well, the Americans have not
allowed one-sided resolutions to pass. They understand that our activity
is a response to Qassams, they understand that Israel has the right to
self-defense."
The United States hopes Israel will quickly end its
massive offensive in Gaza without expanding the operation, Secretary of
State Colin Powell said on Monday.
"I hope it does not expand and I
hope whatever he does is proportionate to the threat that Israel is facing
and I hope that this operation can come to a conclusion quickly," Powell
told reporters aboard his plane as he flew to Brazil.
Powell said
he could not judge if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had overreacted and
predicted the Israeli leader would end the offensive only when he
perceived he had dealt with the threat from Palestinian
rockets
Sharon's offensive "is not in contrast to the disengagement
plan. He remains as committed to the disengagement plan and hopefully that
will get on track," Powell said.