Israel Offers Compromise on U.N. Inquiry

In an effort to avoid further U.N. censure, Israeli officials today offered to receive a U.N. envoy to discuss the treatment of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, Israeli radio said.

The move represents a compromise with a Security Council demand for an investigation into last month’s Temple Mount killings, it said.

The radio quoted Foreign Minister David Levy as announcing the decision during a closed-door session of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

The ministry declined official comment on the report, but a government official confirmed that Israel had worked out an understanding with the United States to accept the compromise.

The proposal called for a special U.N. envoy to visit Israel but not in connection with two Security Council resolutions censuring Israel and demanding a probe, the official said.

The compromise was aimed at heading off threats by the Security Council to take further measures against Israel. Earlier, the council criticized excessive force by police in the Oct. 8 riots on the Temple Mount.

Twenty Palestinians were killed and more than 140 wounded when police opened fire on Arab stone throwers at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.