Israel on Tuesday invited the U.N. Secretary-General to send a personal envoy to the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to investigate alleged abuses of Palestinian human rights. The move by Israel's day-old conservative government comes almost 2 weeks after United Sttes vetoed a United Nations measure calling for the Security Council to dispatch a team to the occupied territories. The United States vetoed the measure but said it supported a personal mission sent by the U.N. chief. ``The government of Israel, on our own initiative, extends to the secretary-general an invitation to (Secretariat Director) Jean-Claude Aime to visit Israel as an envoy in the framework of a visit to the region,'' Israeli Ambassador Johanan Bein told reporters. He said it was the ``first action of the new Israeli government in the international arena.'' The hard-line government received parliamentary approval Monday. Bein made the statement after a meeting with Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar who had sought to send both Aime and a special adviser to the occupied territories. Bein, Israel's acting permanent representative, said Israel ``definitely will extend full cooperation'' to the U.N. envoy. But he said the invitation was limited to Aime. He did not give a date for the visit, but U.N. officials said it could take place soon. Arab nations demanded emergency action from the United Nations to protect Palestinians living in the occupied territories after an apparently deranged Israeli gunned down seven Palestinian laborers and wounded 11 others on May 20. The shooting sparked widespread rioting in the occupied territories and a crackdown by Israeli troops. Israel's invitation may ease diplomatic tensions that emerged after the U.S. veto. Arab nations have threatened to seek an emergency session of the General Assembly to consider the situation in the territories if no action was taken by the United Nations.
