text: Israel's airforceactedagainst theterrorists onlyafteritbecameevident that theterrorists weremounting attacks fromTuniswithimpunity. Onlylastweek,PLO terrorists, whoweredirected andcommanded fromTunis,attacked anIsraeli boatin Larnaca, Cyprus, andmurdered threeIsraelicivilians incoldblood. Inrecent months, thoseheadquarters wereresponsible foranumberofseaborne attemptsAMH/l9 A/40/'W:18 83' (MreShamir, Israel) 11against ourpeople, whichwereprevented byIsraelos navy. Wehadnointention of attacking Tunisia, although thatcountry haspermitted terrorist basestoexiston itssoil. Weactedagainst murderous criminals inordertoprevent the continuation oftheircriminal acts. TheUnitedNations hasbeensadlyremissinmeeting thechallenge of international andPLOterror. Itcouldandshouldhavecomeoutresolutely against thisevilphenomenon ofourtimeandplaceditoutside thepaleofcivilization. Instead,ithasequivocated and,worse,legitimized terrorintermsthathave provided encouragement totheterrorists andtheirsupporters. Iregrettostatethat,inspiteofnumerous outrages andcontinuing attacks byPLOterrorists, thisissuehasneverbeenseriously addressed bytheSecurity Council orotherUnitedNations andinternational forums. Israelcannotbe expected toignorethisdoublestandard. Inspiteofthis,Israeliswilling to actwithotherfreenations tocurb,ifnotstampout,terrorism. Similarly, we urgejointinternational actionagainstterrorists andtheirsponsors. Amongthemostdistressing andoppressing phenomena ofourinternational experience isracism. Theverywordevokesdarkandbrutalmemories ofthelong history oftheJewishpecple. Apartheid isasystemofdiscrimination whichthe JewishfaithandtheStateofIsraeltotally rejectandrepUdiate. TheGovernment ofIsrael, on11August1985,reiterated thatitisunconditionally opposed tothe policyofapartheid inSouthAfricaandtoanydiscrimination ongrounds ofrace, religion orcolouroronanyothergrounds. Israelhasdiplomatic relations withsomeoftheAfrican Statesandweare readytorenewourrelations withthosewithwhichwedonothavethem.Thisis, ofcourse, uptothem. Webelievethatmanyhavebynowseenwhotherealfriends ofAfricaare:itisnotthosewhousehigh-flown wordsbutwillnotlenda1001/19 A/AO/PV.18 84-85' (Mr.Shamir,Israel) helping handintimeofneedanddistress, orthosewhoremember Africaonlywhen theyneeditsvotesattheUnitedNations. TheStateofIsrael,incontrast, was oneofthefirsttoreachouttothenationsofAfrica,intheirearlyyearsof sovereignty andstatehood andintheircurrent travails, andwearereadyto increase ourefforts. Intheareaofdisarmament thenationsoftheMiddleEastareconfronted with threemainchallenges. Thesearethereduction ofconventional arms,the prevention oftheprOliferation ofnuclear weapons andtheeradication oftheuse ofchemical warfare. MyGovernment believes thatconcerted regional actiononall threeissuesisamoralimperative ofthehighestpriority. Concerning theaccUlllulation ofconventional arms,Israelvoicesitsconcern overtheaccelerated supplyoflargequantities ofweapons toanumberof belligerent ArabGovernments inourregion. Theseregimes donotneedthesearms fortheirdefence, butarestockpiling themtouseagainstIsrael. Thiscanonly servetoundermine thechancesforpeaceintheMiddleEast.'i",00/20•t Si~.".:~ A/40/1'~~886 .~ (Mr.Shamir, Israel) Onthesubjectof'nuclear weapons, web~lievethatthemosteffective and • " I ,credible barriertoproliferation insosensitive anareaastheMiddleEastisa freelyanddirectly negotiated conventi()n establishing anuclea=-weapon-free zone, basedonasystemofobligations binding onallStatesconcerned. Israelstands readytobeginsuchnegotiations without delayorpreconditions. WhileIsraelisconscious'of thenecessity toprevent theproliferation of nuclear weapons, Wearealso'aware ofthesubstantial contribution whichthe peaceful useofnuclear energycanmaketothewell-being oftheworldandthe rightofallcountries tobenefit fromsuchuses. WesupPort thoseinternational agreements thatwouldensurethestatusandinviolability ofnuclearfacilities dedicated topeaceful purposes. Another issuethatarouses thedeepest anxietyistherepeated useofchemical weapons intheIran-Iraq warandthedangerthatsuchusemayspreadinamanner thatcouldnoteasily bereversed, ifatall.Itistragicthatthesixtieth anniversary ofthe1925GenevaProtocol forbidding theuseofsuchweapons should becommemorated inthismanner. Thistotaldisregard forsolemninternational legalobligations byIraqdemonstrates thedifficulty ofachieving genuine disarmament. Butwemustnotdespair, wemustcontinue ourefforts inthisvital fieldofhumanendeavour. Thedeteriorating situation oftheJewsintheSovietUnionobliges usonce againtospeakoutindefence oftheirelementary rights. Ourconcern relates especially tothehundredS ofthousands ofSovietJewswhohaveindicated their desiretojointheirpeopleinIsrael. TheSovietauthorities, however, in
analysis: This text appears to be a speech or statement by the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Shamir, addressing various international issues, including terrorism, racism, disarmament, and human rights. The text does not focus on economic development, natural resources, agriculture, industry, transport, communication, or employment. While it does touch on humanitarian aid and relief, it is not the primary focus. The text is more focused on political and international relations issues.