Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXIV, North Africa

362. Electronic Message From Robert Oakley of the National Security Council Staff to William Burns of the National Security Council Staff¹

Washington, April 22, 1988, 3:07 p.m.

SUBJECT

• Prof Note to General Powell on Tunisian Security Council Resolution

1. Security Council debate on the Abu Jihad resolution continues.² USUN does not anticipate a vote before Monday morning, although the situation remains fluid and a vote could come late today.

2. The latest version of the Tunisian draft, which has been already sent to Secretary Shultz, is much improved. It makes no reference to “terrorism,” and contains no mention at all of Israel in its operative paragraphs. USUN is still negotiating with the Tunisians to tone down references to Israel in the preamble, but in general I believe that this latest draft is very close to what we have been looking for.

3. It remains true that there is yet no incontrovertible material evidence of Israeli responsibility for Abu Jihad’s assassination, other than the undisputed presence of Israeli 707 off the coast,³ but I don’t think there is any doubt in anybody’s mind that Israel carried out this operation. Before the MOA signing, none of the Israelis disavowed it during a chat about the event in which they complained about accuracy and detail of the Washington Post story⁴ on how Israeli inner cabinet made the decision.

4. It is also true that events have taken a turn for the worse for U.S. interests (and Israel) in the Middle East. The continued violence in the Occupied Territories and hardened Israeli attitudes,⁵ the fact that our peace initiative is seen as having run aground, our previous vetoes of UNSC resolutions against Israel, and now the assassination of Abu Jihad have all contributed to a very heated environment. We need to do what we can to cool it down, or at least avoid doing things that will make it boil over.

5. On the basis of Tunisia’s latest draft—with whatever further improvements we can make—I strongly recommend that we swallow hard and vote for the resolution.

1. Source: Reagan Library, William J. Burns Files, Tunisia: 02/01/88–07/31/88. Secret.
2. The draft resolution, Security Council Resolution 611, which did not specifically mention Israel, in part condemned “vigorously the aggression perpetrated on 16 April 1988 against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Tunisia in flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and norms of conduct.” The UN Security Council voted 14–0 to adopt the resolution on April 25. The United States abstained from the vote. The text of the resolution is in telegram 1191 from USUN, April 26. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D880354–0855)
3. In telegram 1191 from USUN, April 26, the Mission reported: “Tunisia was turning over to the UNSYG a dossier of its investigation. The dossier related principally to the logistics support provided by the Israeli plane tracked near Tunisian airspace by Italian authorities. Malta had also informed the Tunisian delegation that the Israeli aircraft had overflown Maltese territory.” (See footnote 2, above.)
4. The Washington Post reported on April 22 that sources in Jerusalem said that the raid “was approved by the inner cabinet and carried out by a special Israeli commando squad.” (Glenn Frankle, “Festivities, Security Alert Help Israel Turn 40,” p. A11)
5. Reference is to the First Intifada, an uprising by Palestinians against Israeli occupation forces, which began in December 1987 and lasted until 1991. Documentation on the First Intifada is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. XIX, Arab-Israeli Dispute.