Mideast situation – Letter from Israel

Letter dated 30 August 2001 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of Israel

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

I wish to draw your attention to the latest incidents of Palestinian terrorism that have claimed the lives of two Israelis by Palestinian terrorists in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday morning, Oleg Sotnikov, aged 34, a truck driver for an Israeli energy company, was murdered en route to deliver gas to residents of a local Palestinian village. Reports indicate that Sotnikov identified armed terrorists whereupon he left his truck, hoping to flee on foot. Palestinian terrorists pursued him and gunned him down with dozens of bullets before fleeing to territories under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.

This afternoon, Amos Tajouri, a 60-year-old Israeli from Modi’in, was murdered as he sat in a restaurant with Palestinian friends. A masked man approached Tajouri from behind, drew his weapon and shot him in the head.

These cold-blooded terrorist murders are  merely the latest incidents in an escalating Palestinian campaign of terrorism that has been detailed in my letters dated 27 August 2001 (A/56/324-S/2001/825), 13 August 2001 (A/56/294-S/2001/787), 9 August 2001 (A/56/272-S/2001/768), 27 July 2001 (A/56/225-S/2001/743), 26 July 2001 (A/56/223-S/2001/737), 17 July 2001 (A/56/201-S/2001/706), 13 July 2001 (A/56/184-S/2001/696), 3 July 2001 (A/56/138-S/2001/662), 21 June 2001 (A/56/119-S/2001/619), 19 June 2001 (A/56/98-S/2001/611), 18 June 2001 (A/56/97-S/2001/604), 13 June 2001 (A/56/92-S/2001/585), 11 June 2001 (A/56/91-S/2001/580), 4 June 2001 (A/56/85-S/2001/555), 30 May 2001 (A/56/81-S/2001/540), 25 May 2001 (A/56/80-S/2001/524), 18 May 2001 (A/56/78-S/2001/506), 11 May 2001 (A/56/72-S/2001/473), 9 May 2001 (A/56/69-S/2001/459), 1 May 2001 (A/55/924-S/2001/435), 23 April 2001 (A/55/910-S/2001/396), 16 April 2001 (A/55/901-S/2001/364), 28 March 2001 (A/55/863-S/2001/291), 27 March 2001 (A/55/860-S/2001/280), 26 March 2001 (A/55/858-S/2001/278), 19 March 2001 (A/55/842-S/2001/244), 5 March 2001 (A/55/821-S/2001/193), 2 March 2001 (A/55/819-S/2001/187), 14 February 2001 (A/55/787-S/2001/137), 13 February 2001 (A/55/781-S/2001/132), 2 February 2001 (A/55/762-S/2001/103), 25 January 2001 (A/55/748-S/2001/81), 23 January 2001 (A/55/742-S/2001/71), 28 December 2000 (A/55/719-S/2000/1252), 22 November 2000 (A/55/641-S/2000/1114), 20 November 2000 (A/55/634-S/2000/1108) and 2 November 2000 (A/55/540-S/2000/1065).

Israel holds the Palestinian Authority fully responsible for these murders. Despite the lip service that the Palestinians pay to non-violence and the return to negotiations, their actions on the ground do not reflect any serious commitment to controlling terrorism. Convicted terrorists — responsible for the planning and implementation of attacks that have killed and maimed hundreds of Israelis and who are currently engaged in planning more deadly attacks — operate freely in the territory under the control of the Palestinian Authority, which has refused to take the necessary action to stop them. Moreover, official organs of the Palestinian security services continue to play a vital role in aiding and abetting the perpetration of illegal and indiscriminate acts of violence and terror.

Israel calls, yet again, on the Palestinian leadership to fulfil its commitments, enshrined in numerous signed agreements between the sides, to renounce the use of violence and terror, to ensure the compliance of all Palestinian elements with this policy, and to commence implementation of the provisions of the Mitchell Report, which calls, first and foremost, for a complete and unconditional cessation of violence. The Palestinian leadership must understand, and their actions must reflect, the fact that terrorism against innocent civilians is a totally unacceptable, illegal and deplorable practice, and that their objectives will be undermined to the degree that they continue to tolerate terrorist activity.

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of this letter circulated as a document of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 178 of the provisional agenda, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Ambassador Aaron Jacob

Chargé d’affaires a.i.