Clinton Defends Vetoing U.N. Criticism of Israel

President Clinton said Monday that he realizes the latest U.S. veto of a U.N. resolution critical of Israel could damage American credibility in the Arab world but said that he had to act to prevent the United Nations from interfering in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

In a news conference after their White House meeting Monday, Clinton and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak agreed that Israel will put the peace process in jeopardy if it goes ahead with plans to build a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem. But the two leaders disagreed sharply over the impact of Washington’s veto of a Security Council resolution condemning the project.

Clinton said he is confident that the U.S. veto, cast Friday to block a measure supported by the 14 other council members, will not be seen in Israel as a green light to build still more Jewish settlements. But Mubarak argued that if the resolution had passed, “it may have given a signal to the Israelis to stop any settlement activities, especially in the area of Jerusalem, which is illegal.”

When an Egyptian reporter suggested that the veto will erode U.S. credibility as a Middle East peace broker and damage Washington’s standing in the Arab world, Clinton responded: “In all candor, I’m very concerned about that. . . . I was very aware of how the veto might make the United States look in the Arab world.”

But the status of Jerusalem should be negotiated directly between Israelis and Palestinians without U.N. interference, Clinton said. In their interim peace pact signed 1 1/2 years ago, the Israelis and Palestinians agreed that the question of Jerusalem--probably the most emotional dispute between the longtime antagonists--must be settled during the “final status” negotiations, originally scheduled to begin this week but now postponed indefinitely.

Clinton compared the U.N. veto to his administration’s opposition to efforts in Congress to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In both cases, he said, his objective was to prevent interference in the final status talks.

Nevertheless, Clinton renewed his opposition to Israel’s plan to develop a new Jewish neighborhood on a southeast Jerusalem hillside that Israelis call Har Homa and Arabs call Jabal Abu Ghneim. He agreed that the project is an attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change the status quo before the talks start.

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The ambiguity of Clinton’s position--opposing the project while blocking a Security Council resolution that expressed opposition to it--clearly puzzled Mubarak, who called the veto “unfortunate.” At the same time, he said, Clinton had reassured him “that the U.S. position on these various issues remains unchanged.”

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amir Moussa, speaking in Washington on Friday, said that Washington’s theoretical opposition to Israeli settlements “is good.” But, he said, if the United States wants to fulfill its historic role as a Middle East broker, it must “deal with issues like settlements when they arise.”

If built, the Har Homa neighborhood would cut off Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem from Bethlehem, an Arab city controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after capturing the area from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War.