The 1975 statement referred to in the repeal decision said that after reviewing other international resolutions linking Zionism with South Africa's apartheid system, the General Assembly "determines that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination."

Applause broke out in the General Assembly as the result flashed on the big electronic voting board high on one side of the hall. And delegates leapt up from their seats and rushed to congratulate Israel's Foreign Minister, David Levy, who led his country's delegation at the session.

At a news conference later, Mr. Levy described the vote as "removing a terrible blot" and said the world community was "sobering up," with many countries "shifting their positions."

A total of 85 countries, or just more than half of the 166 members in the United Nations, co-sponsored the repeal resolution, including the Soviet Union and all its former communist allies in Eastern Europe that voted the other way in 1975. The outcome was also at the high end of American expectations. On Friday, United States officials were predicting a maximum of just more than 100 votes for repeal but warning that there could be a 20 percent margin of error. Enhancing the U.N.

Both the United States and the spokesmen for the Arab countries voting against repeal saw the vote as important for both the credibility of the United Nations and for the Middle East peace talks. And their addresses drew loud applause from delegates.

Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger, who led the American delegation at this afternoon's session, argued that repeal would bring the United Nations better into line with the realities of the post-cold-war world.

Equating Zionism with racism, Mr. Eagleburger said, "demonstrated like nothing else before or since, to what extent the cold war had distorted the United Nation's vision of reality, marginalized its political utility and separated it from its original moral purpose."