S/PV.1169 Security Council

In accordance with the previous decisions of the Security Council, 1 shall invite the representatives of the Syrian Arab Republic and Israel to take places at the Council table. At the Invitation of the President, Mr. Michael S. Comay (Israel) and Mr. Rafik Asha (Syria) tookplaces at the Council table.

The Council Will proceed with the examination of the question on its agenda, but before calling upon the first speaker 1 would draw the attention of members to the draft resolution [S/6085/Rev.l] Y presented by the delegation of Morocco.

1 should like first of a11 to thank you, Mr. President, and to thank the members of the Council y Sec Officia1 Records of rhe Security Council, Nineteenth Year. Supplement for October; November and Eecember 1964. “The suspicion and bitterness which characterize the relations between the two countries are nourished to a considerable extent by Israel’s firm fusa1 to recognize any locus standi to Syria in the demilitarized zone, the greater part of which now in point of fact controlled by Israel, whose authority is limited only by the efforts of the Chairman and United Nations Observers to fulfill their responsibilities under article V. Theprevailing atmosphere of tension between the two countries is also a consequence of Syria’s steadfast refusa1 to seek an end to its conflict with Israel. In this atmosphere of tension, the 13 November incident in the area of Tel-El-Qadi developed into aerial action against villages and military positions, n 5. It is apparent from the passage just quoted that two factors are indirectly but very clearly responsible for the development of the incident of 13 November 1964 into aerial action against Syrian villages military positions. On the one hand, there is Israel’s firm refusa1 to recognize any locus standi to Syria in the demilitarized zone, the greater part of which is now in point of fact controlled by Israel. On the other hand, there is Syria’s steadfast refusa1 to seek an end to its conflict with Israel. 6. With the first factor, one of the signatories of the General Armistice Agreement has deliberately systematically adopted an attitude that is nothing less than a violation of the provisions of that Agreement. It is therefore quite in order to bring to the Council’s attention an attitude of defiance both towards other signatory and towards the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine. 7. With the second faotor, that is to say, Syria’s steadfast refusa1 to seek an end to its oonflict with Israel, the attitude adopted is a political one, completely unrelated to the need for truce supervision, but mentioned appropriately at this juncture, no doubt SO as to render the account more complete and more illuminating and, especially, in order to explain real reason which led the Israelis to launch a widescale aerial action against Syria, using as a pretext the exchange of fire that occurred in the region Tel-El-Qadi and Nukheila. 8. It is therefore perfectly clear that this aerial action, which, as 1 have already pointed out in a previous statement [1165th meeting], had absolutely military justification, was undertaken solely reasons that were essentially political. That, in the view of my delegation, is the most alarming aspect 3 Ibid -- 9. That is the context in which the actionof the Israel Air Force against Syria must be viewed. Can the Security Council allow a single shot, of unknown origin and fired in fact merely as a warning, to provoke Yhe unnecessary and unjustified escalation of acts of war” as the Brazilian Minister for External Relations SO aptly expressed it in his statement of 3 December [ 1167th meeting, para. 2117 What useful purpose and what justification could the Israelis have found for such an action unless, very simply, they wished to compel a oountry like Syria to change its political policy? 10, We find in paragraph 4 of the report that the actual provocation was nothing more than a single shot of unknown origin. Statements made by two Syrian witnesses confirm the accounts of observation post Alpha in this regard. Those two witnesses, moreover, have added to our information by pointing out that it was a warning shot “fired when an Israel patrol, heading westward on the reconstructed Israel track on the northern edge of Tel-El-Qadi entered the area of alleged Israel encroachment into Syrian territory which had been the subject of a previous Syrian complaint on 3 November 1964”. 11. In the light of these considerations, Morocco has deemed it imperative to submit a draft resolutian [S/6085/Rev.l]. My Government felt duty bound to take the initiative in order ta help to preserve peace and security in the area. We believe that this proposal, that we felt compelled to submit for the approval of the Co,uncil complies with the need for prevention rather than to cure. The Security Council of the United Nations must measure up to its responsibilities in view of the seriausness of this situation and especially in view of the precedent created by the massive air attacks which Israel has chosen to carry out against defenceless Syrian villages under the very eyes of the United Nations observers. 12, In our estimation, this new course of action, on which the Zionist State has felt obliged to embark, is a serious threat to international peace and security and, as such, deserves the strongest kind of condemnation. Even though my delegation is convinced that Israel is responsible for causing the incident of 13 November, the proper procedure, if Israel had really felt that its rights had been violated when that single shot was fired, would have been for it to register a complaint as has been done in similar instances in the past. The striking and tragic truth is, however, that in sending an armoured vehicle to encroach upon Syrian territory, the Israelis were apparently waiting only for the excuse this minor incident would give 13. Thus, as far as the Moroccan delegation is concerned, the point at issue is not necessarily which of the two parties is responsible for firingthefirst shot, encroaching on a road or dispatching a military patrol. Although that information is, of course, important, the problem became infinitely more serious from the moment that Israel, taking advantage of its military superiority, launched its bomber formations and fighter bombers in successive waves against Syria on a mission of destruction and terrorism. 1 should like, moreover, to say in passing that itwas certainly not in order to destroy peaceful villages not to cause heavy loss of life among Syrian farmers that war material of such quality was placed at Israel’s disposal. 14, The fact that this extremely serious aspect the incident of 13 November has not been sufficiently stressed in some of the statements madeinthe course of this debate is probably of some significance and may consequently elicit certain comments, which my delegation, for its part, shall refrain from making at this time. 1 think, however, that I cari allow myself the following reflection: anaerial action Will never suffice to resolve a political problem, and Israel’s brutal policy of terrer, based on its military superiority and directed in particular against its neighbour at the present time, cari in no way shake the faith of freedom-loving peoples whose hopes rest solely on the triumph of right and justice in that region. 15. My delegation trusts, on the basis of this introduction, that the draft resolution which it bas the honour to submit to you Will be sympathetically received. It is convinced that, apart from any other consideration, the profound sense of responsibility and justice by which our deliberations have always been guided Will prevail in this disquieting affair. Once again, the Council must show its devotion to peace and its Will to preserve peace by taking a stand strong enough to prevent the repetition of an act of war as unjustified and as unexpected as that committed 13 November 1964 by the State of Israel against Syrian villages and defence posts.

Icall on the representative of Israel who has asked to speak,

The Moroccan draft resolution [S/6085/Rev.l] should be commended for at least one virtue, and that is its lack of pretence. It is simply the Syrian contention put into the form of a draft resolution and submitted by the Arab member of the Security Council. As such, it lays no claim to being impartial or balance& It simply accepts axiomatic that if there is a clash between Syria and 19. At the 1168th meeting of the Security Council on 3 December, 1 pointed out that the Syrian representative was, in effect, rejecting the completion of the survey in the Tel-El-Qadi area called for by General Bull by making that survey conditional on a demarcation of the whole border. The impression that Syria does not seriously want its charges of encroachment to be put to the test of this survey is corroborated this morning by the fact that the Moroccan draft resolution, which 1 assume has Syrian blessing, deliberately evades a11 reference to the proposed survey. 20, Mr. SIDI BABA (Morocco) (translated from French): 1 should like first of a11 to correct what the representative of Israel has just said. 21. When Morocco decided to submit a draft resolution, it proceeded on the basis of arguments supported by specific facts. Merely because Morocco is an Arab country does not mean that itis automatically prepared to submit any draft resolution, no matter what kind, in the name of Arab solidarity. The draft resolution that we have submitted is imbued with a sense of objectivity and justice befitting the extremely grave situation which has arisen. 22. The fact is that a minor incident falling specifically within the competence of the Mixed Armistice Commission set up to deal with such matters-an incident which should have remained minor regardless of the responsibility of either party-was taken advantage of by Israel to launch large-scale aerial action. 23, 1 say “large-scale”, and 1 use the word advisedly. 1 use it not to impress the Council, but because it corresponds exactly to the conclusion we have been able to derive from the information contained in the report submitted by the Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. Some of the speakers who have taken part in this debate have not failed to point out the lack of proportion between the incident itself and the wide-scale aerial actioncarried out by Israel against Syrian territory. 24. The reason for this aerial action must therefore be sought. The firing of a warning shot or a single shot of undetermined origin does not explain why Israel felt obliged to take such action. The reason lies much deeper and is much more serious than this. The reason is that because Syria refuses to seek an end to its conflict with Israel, it is suffering the consequences of its political attitude, and this despite the existence of the Truce Supervision Organization established by the United Nations. 26. Morocco, 1 repeat, is not automaticaIly obligated to submit a draft resolution in the name of Arab solidarity. It has submitted this text on the basis of precise information ‘furnished by the United Nations and in the conviction that the aerial action carried out against Syria was out of proportion to the incident of 13 November. 27. Having said this, 1 should like to add that as this meeting has been devoted mainly to introducing draft resolution which we have been honoured to submit to the Security Council, the members of the Council should be given time to examine it and to get in touch with their Governments SO as to be able to act with full awareness of what they are doing and in accordance with whatever instructions they receive. For this reason, my delegation does not press for a vote on the draft resolution at the present meeting, 28, The PRESIDENT (translated from Spanish): view of the suggestion made by the representative Morocco that representatives to the Security Council should be given time ta consult their Governments order that they might study the document submitted by Morocco and decide how they Will vote, and since 1 have no more speakers on my list, 1 shall adjourn the meeting and, after the necessary consultations, 1 shall inform you of the day and time when this discussion Will be resumed. The meeting rose at 11.45 a.m. Litho in U.N. Price: $U.S. 0.35