Mideast situation – Letter from Israel

Letter dated 15 June 1987 from the Permanent Representative of Israel

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

The PLO has recently attempted to intensify its campaign of terror against Israel.  These attempts follow the similar pattern of PLO terrorism:  call attacks on defenceless civilians, assaults on military targets, and then fake the results.  For example:

On 9 June 1987, in a broadcast from Baghdad, the "Voice of the PLO" claimed that the PLO had attacked a "military vehicle" on its way to Petach Tikva; this "vehicle" was actually a public bus; a grenade was found on it and dismantled before it could explode;

On 9 June 1987, in a broadcast from Baghdad, the "Voice of the PLO" claimed responsibility for an explosion against a "military bus" at Rehovot; in fact there was no explosion and no such bus; a grenade was found in the Rehovot central bus station and was dismantled before it could explode.

The PLO also attempts to launch terrorism against Israel from Lebanese territory.  Yasir Arafat recently said on the Voice of Lebanon (7 May 1987):  "I buy arms on the black market and then smuggle them into Lebanon … I will not withdraw my troops from Sidon, which is being used as a staging point for operations against Israel".  Two such "operations" went as follows:

On 19 April 1987, three heavily-armed Fatah terrorists were caught after infiltrating northern Israel for the express purpose of taking civilian hostages;

On 8 May 1987, Arafat personally ordered PLO terrorists to infiltrate Israel and carry out a massacre at the central bus station at Nahariya; the five-man squad was apprehended in the security zone before they crossed the border; two were killed and three were taken prisoner.

Israel was able to prevent these wanton attacks against its civilians by the ongoing security arrangements along its northern border.  These measures are necessary because, as the recent assassination of Lebanon's Prime Minister grimly reminds us, there is no central Government in Beirut able to prevent the PLO and other terrorist groups from using Lebanon as a staging ground for aggression against Israel.  The Government of Israel will continue to take appropriate measures to protect its citizens against terrorist operations launched from Lebanon and elsewhere.

I have the honour to request that this letter be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under item 39 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Benjamin NETANYAHU

Ambassador

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*A/42/50.