Credentials of representatives – Letter from Israel

CREDENTIALS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE THIRTY-NINTH SESSION

OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Letter dated 17 October 1984 from the Permanent Representative

of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the President of

the General Assembly

I have the honor to refer to the letter dated 16 October 1984 addressed to Your Excellency by a number of representatives (A/39/584). That letter contains a gratuitous and unfounded attack on the credentials of the delegation of Israel to the thirty-ninth session of the General Assembly, despite the fact that they were found in due form and accepted by the Credentials Committee at its 1st meeting on 11 October 1984 (see the first report of the Credentials Committee, A/39/574).

The letter under reference is thus a deliberate attempt to abuse the credentials procedure by introducing matters completely irrelevant to it. I will confine myself to the following observations:

(a) The report of the Credentials Committee is not the occasion for any country to engage in the polemics contained in the letter under reference;

(b) Aspersions cast on credentials which are in due form, and have been accepted as such by the Credentials Committee, are in violation of the letter and spirit of the United Nations Charter and the rules of procedure of the General Assembly;

(c) The underlying approach of the letter is incompatible with the principles guiding the United Nations, including the duty of Member States to use the United Nations as a "center for harmonizing the actions of nations" (Article 1, para. 4);

(d) The letter displays contempt for the General Assembly and its lawful procedures. It harms the ability of the United Nations to perform its primary function the maintenance of international peace and security.

I have the honor to request that this letter be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly under agenda item 3.