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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, July 3 , 1980
structure and the status of the Holy City of Jerusalem."
attempts to consolidate Jerusalem formally under Israeli
a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just
in the Middle East."
Page 9
It also said
rule "constitute
and lasting peace
The heat being focused in the U.N. on the Jerusalem issue is intensifying
--for good reason.
On the very day of the U.N. vote, a parliamentary committee in Israel's
Knesset voted overwhelmingly to pass along to the full membership a bill
that recognized the entirety of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The
bill must pass three readings before becoming law.
Further, Prime Minister Menachem Begin, recovering from yet another minor
heart attack, plans to move his office into a new government complex in
the eastern half of the city.
Conservative Knesset member Geula Cohen, who sponsored the bill, praised
the Knesset committee's decision. "Especially today, when the security
council is saying no to Jerusalem, the Knesset must say yes to Jerusalem,"
she told Israel Radio.
The legislation, the first of its kind, recognizes the annexation of East
Jerusalem shortly after the city was captured from Jordan in the six-day
war and defines the reunified city as the Israeli capital. It is not
internationally recognized as such. Many countries including the U.S.
and Canada don't even recognize West Jerusalem as Israel's seat of govern
ment, preferring to keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Thus, Jerusalem looms more and more and more as the chief bone of inter
national contention. As reported in last week's Pastor General's Report,
King Khalid of Saudi Arabia urged West Germany to help Arab Palestinians
regain control of "our holy city of Jerusalem." The Common Market is
becoming directly involved in pushing its own comprehensive Mideast
solution, weighed in favor of Palestinian statehood, though ostensibly
guaranteeing Israeli security. And only yesterday, the Egyptian parlia
ment passed a resolution declaring East Jerusalem the "capital of the
Palestinians"--a move obviously in response to the pending Israeli legis
lation.
Truly the Jerusalem issue is becoming a "heavy stone for all peoples; all
who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves" (Zech. 12:3, RSV).
Addendum: Just after last week's issue went to press, French President
Valery Giscard d'Estaing told newsmen in a press conference in Paris after
the Venice II summit that France has already conducted preliminary neutron
bomb experiments. He said further that a decision whether to produce the
weapon will be made in 1982 or 1983. Some observers feel the decision
could come earlier, perhaps as early as next spring, if Giscard wins the
national election scheduled for that time.
A neutron bomb is a tactical nuclear weapon designed to destroy life but
not buildings and materials. Moscow propaganda labels it the "ultimate
capitalist weapon." But Moscow's main concern is that the bomb's focused
energy would penetrate Russian armor in any offensive heading toward
Western Europe.