Verdict Against Israel

"Shocking," "heinous," and "outrageous" were some of the terms in which members of the U.N. Security Council last week roundly condemned Israel's December raid on Syrian frontier outposts near the Sea of Galilee, in which 56 Syrians and six Israelis were killed. It was Israel's fourth such "reprisal" attack in two years, and, in the words of the U.S.'s Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., "a deed so out of proportion with the provocation that it cannot be accurately described as a retaliatory raid."

The issue within the council was whether Israel should be punished as well as censured. The Syrians had asked that the U.N. expel their neighbor and apply economic sanctions. The Russians, eager these days to woo the Arabs, demanded that the Israelis pay indemnities to Syria. The Western Big Three resolution condemned Israel for its "deliberate violation" of the U.N. armistice, and warned of punitive measures if it happened again. Whatever form the censure finally takes, Israel's action had already been unanimously condemned by all eleven Security Council members.

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