Soviets Refuse to Back Arab Measure Calling for Israel’s Ouster From U.N.

The Soviet Union refused for the first time Tuesday to support an Arab-led demand that Israel be ousted from the U.N. General Assembly, a move seen by diplomats as evidence of growing Soviet involvement in the Middle East peace process.

The Soviet Union abstained with 14 other countries when the General Assembly voted 95 to 37 to reject the Arab demand that the Israeli delegation be unseated. Twelve of the 159 U.N. member states did not take part in the vote.

Among those abstaining were China, Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Last year, the assembly voted 95 to 41 to reject the same Arab demand, which was made by 32 Arab and Muslim nations--excluding Egypt--and the Palestine Liberation Organization. This year, the motion was introduced by Libya.

Arab states have been challenging unsuccessfully Israel’s credentials since 1982--with Soviet support. Every year, as soon as the Arabs made the move, the Nordic states countered with a motion demanding the Assembly reject it.

U.N. diplomats said the Soviet Union’s new position reflects its growing role in the Middle East conflict. Moscow strengthened its contacts with Israel recently when it invited Israeli Finance Minister Shimon Peres to visit.

Moscow broke diplomatic relations with the Jewish state after the 1967 Six-Day War. But relations between the two countries have warmed in recent years with the exchange of consular missions, the expansion of cultural and other ties and the removal of most barriers to Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union.

Israel also provided medical assistance after last December’s earthquake in Soviet Armenia.

The Soviet Union was joined by Byelorussia and the Ukraine--which have separate U.N. memberships--in abstaining instead of voting against accepting the Israeli credentials.