[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 17 (Friday, February 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1162-S1163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 186--CONCERNING ISRAELI MEMBERSHIP IN A UNITED 
                         NATIONS REGIONAL GROUP

  Mr. MOYNIHAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 186

         
       Whereas, of the 185 member states of the United Nations, 
     only the State of Israel is ineligible to sit on the Security 
     Council, the Economic and Social Council, or any other United 
     Nations committee;
       Whereas the State of Israel was created in response to a 
     1947 General Assembly resolution and joined the United 
     Nations in 1949;
       Whereas the members of the United Nations have organized 
     themselves according to regional groups since 1946;
       Whereas eligibility for election to the rotating seats of 
     the Security Council, or other United Nations councils, 
     commissions, or committees, is only available to countries 
     belonging to a regional group;
       Whereas Israel has remained a member of the United Nations 
     despite being subjected to deliberate attacks which aimed to 
     place the legitimacy of the State of Israel in question;
       Whereas this anachronistic Cold War isolation of Israel at 
     the United Nations continues;
       Whereas barring a member of the United Nations from 
     entering a regional group is inimical to the principles under 
     which the United Nations was founded, namely, ``to develop 
     friendly relations among nations based on respect for the 
     principle of equal rights . . .''; and
       Whereas Israel is a vibrant democracy, which shares the 
     values, goals, and interests of the ``Western European and 
     Others Group'', a regional group which includes Australia, 
     Canada, New Zealand, and the United States: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) it should be the policy of the United States to support 
     the State of Israel's efforts to enter an appropriate United 
     Nations regional group;
       (2) the President should instruct the Permanent 
     Representative of the United States to the United Nations to 
     carry out this policy;
       (3) the United States should--
       (A) insist that any efforts to reform the United Nations, 
     including the Security Council, also resolve this anomaly; 
     and
       (B) ensure that the principle of sovereign equality be 
     upheld without exception; and
       (4) the Secretary of State should submit a report to 
     Congress on the steps taken by the United States, the 
     Secretary General of the United Nations, and others to help 
     secure Israel's membership in an appropriate United Nations 
     regional group.

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to submit a 
resolution seeking to right a 50 year wrong. I am joined by the 
distinguished senior Senator from Indiana, Senator Lugar, and 37 of my 
colleagues. Having served as our Ambassador to the United Nations, I am 
painfully aware of the paradox facing Israel at the United Nations. 
Israel is a state which was created by the United Nations, and yet for 
50 years has been treated as a step-child--or worse--in its dealings at 
the United Nations.
  Never was that more apparent than the sad period when the General 
Assembly equated Zionism with racism. It took a long 16 years to 
repeal, but after great effort it was done. Today, I hope we can begin 
a similar effort to end a Cold War anomaly. I speak of the fact that 
Israel is excluded from a United Nations regional group. Israel is the 
only one of the 185 member states of the United Nations barred from 
membership in a regional group. The United Nations member states have 
organized themselves by regional groups since before Israel joined the 
United Nations in 1949. Membership in a United Nations regional group 
confers eligibility to sit on the Security Council, the Economic and 
Social Council, as well as other United Nations councils, commissions, 
and committees.
  This effort could mirror that of the effort to repeal the odious 
General Assembly Resolution 3379, equating Zionism with racism. That 
effort was led by Chaim Herzog. He came to Washington in 1987 for the 
first state visit by a President of Israel to the United States in 
history.
  I took the floor of the Senate to introduce a Joint Resolution 
following word-for-word an Australian measure calling for the repeal of 
Resolution 3379.
  The Senate and the House of Representatives adopted the resolution 
unanimously, in time for Chaim Herzog to address a Joint Meeting of 
Congress on November 10, 1987--on the 12th anniversary of his defense 
of Israel at the United Nations in opposition to Resolution 3379. 
President Reagan signed the resolution on November 17. Finally, there 
was an American policy. We meant to repeal General Assembly Resolution 
3379.
  Both the Zionism resolution and the rejectionist Arab Front would 
soon lose their major support with the collapse of the Soviet Union. 
The General Assembly overwhelmingly repealed Resolution 3379 on 
December 16, 1991. The fight had taken 16 years.
  We won that battle but one cold war anachronism remains at the United 
Nations. One sorry throwback to an era when the institutionalized 
isolation of Israel was a given in international affairs--the ugly 
``gentlemen's agreement'' that excludes Israel and only

[[Page S1163]]

Israel from membership in any United Nations Regional Group. Israel--
and only Israel--can never sit on the United Nations Security Council. 
Israel--and only Israel--can never serve on the United Nations Economic 
and Social Council, where her expertise is so sorely missed. Israel--
and only Israel--is less than a full member of the very international 
organization which bravely voted on November 29, 1947, to create the 
State of Israel.
  A hundred years ago the Zionist Congress first articulated the 
Zionist dream.
  Fifty years ago the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the 
Zionist dream.
  Today, we call for Israel's admission to a United Nations Regional 
Group. This must be a goal of our government's foreign policy and a 
priority of reform efforts at the United Nations. That such legislation 
is necessary is a reminder that, despite the unparalleled success of 
the Zionist movement in its first hundred years, the state created half 
a century ago as the fruit of this ideal still requires support from 
its friends.
  I can think of no more fitting congressional tribute to this vision 
than our country taking its rightful place in the forefront of the 
effort to allow Israel to participate fully in international affairs, 
to be counted as a legitimate member among the nations of the world.
  Again, I thank my colleagues for supporting the measure. In 
particular I thank Senator Lugar for his strong support in this effort. 
I hope that this will begin an effort which will finally bring Israel 
completely within the fold of the United Nations.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I am pleased to co-sponsor the resolution 
expressing the sense of the Senate regarding Israeli membership in a 
United Nations regional group. I am delighted to join Senator Moynihan 
in bringing this resolution to the attention of our colleagues in the 
Senate.
  Over the years, many in the Congress have risen to comment on the 
United Nations. Many have been critical or skeptical about the role the 
Untied Nations can and does play in world affairs. Many have been 
laudatory as well. There is a division in the Congress about the extent 
to which the United Nations helps to advance U.S. interests and world 
peace. Last year, the Congress devoted an enormous amount of time on 
legislation to pay our arrears to the U.N. and the conditions and 
reforms which must be met before disbursement of our payments. That 
legislative effort is still continuing. There are many disagreements 
about the United Nations and I don't wish to revisit or bridge the gap 
between these views.
  But, Mr. President there is an important United Nations issue on 
which all members of the Congress can agree and that is the resolution 
we are introducing today. Senator Moynihan and I are joined by nearly 
forty members of the Senate who believe that an institutional 
injustice, based on political reasons, has been perpetrated on the 
state of Israel because it has been denied membership in a U.N. 
``regional group.'' On the surface, this denial would appear to be a 
minor oversight or slight snub of a long-standing member of the United 
Nations. But, it is much more than that.
  U.N. regional group membership confers eligibility to serve on the 
Security Council and other important committees of the United Nations 
such as the International Court of Justice and the U.N. Commission on 
Human Rights. Nominations of members to serve on U.N. committees are 
made by the regional groups. Israel does not belong to any regional 
group. Indeed, Israel is the only country in the United Nations that 
can not claim membership in any regional group. As such, it is 
ineligible for membership in the influential committees in the U.N. 
Paradoxically, Iran, Cuba, Syria and Libya enjoy this privilege denied 
Israel.
  As with the United States Congress and most every legislative or 
deliberative body, much of the real work is performed in committees, 
councils and other smaller deliberative bodies. To be denied membership 
in these committees is to be denied the opportunity to influence 
important decisions and actions of the United Nations. It is unfair and 
unjust and should be rectified as soon as possible.
  Israel has not been allowed to join its natural regional group of the 
Middle East and has expressed interest in joining the Western Europe 
and Others Group (WEOG) regional group. The WEOG group includes Western 
European democracies, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and 
Turkey.
  The resolution we are introducing today urges the President to help 
facilitate Israel's membership in an appropriate U.N. regional group. 
Under current circumstances, an appropriate regional group is most 
likely to be the WEOG. It further urges the administration to report to 
the Congress on the steps it has taken to assist Israel's membership in 
a U.N. regional group and the success or failure of those efforts.
  Mr. President, I ask that all members take note of this resolution. 
It seeks to bring full equality to Israel's membership in the United 
Nations. I am confident that it will be supported by the entire body.

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