UN envoy Danon: Palestinian leadership built ‘incubator’ for terror
Former Likud minister opposes international troops on Temple Mount, says such move would violate decades-long status quo
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As the UN Security Council met Friday for an emergency discussion on the escalating conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel’s recently installed Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said the council did not need another general discussion about the situation but rather a meeting on the “wild incitement” by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which, he said, was encouraging a wave of terror attacks against Israelis.
Danon, speaking ahead of the Security Council session, accused Abbas of evading talks that could quickly de-escalate tensions, when “only yesterday” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would be willing to renew talks without preconditions in order to restore the calm. Instead of making the “20-minute ride” from Ramallah to Jerusalem, the Palestinians again turned to the UN, he said.
“Israelis are being stabbed, bombed, run-over and stoned, yet this council remains silent,” he added.
The ambassador presented a Palestinian poster that describes the most efficient way to stab Jews and said the Palestinian leadership had “established an incubator to raise children as terrorists.
“Instead of educating about peace and tolerance, the Palestinian leadership is brainwashing children with incitement and hate,” he said.
“When a Palestinian child turns on a TV, he doesn’t see Barney or Donald Duck, he sees murderers portrayed as heroes. When he opens a textbook, he doesn’t learn about math and science, he’s being taught to hate.”
He opposed the idea to deploy international troops at the Temple Mount in order to foster calm, saying this would violate the decades-long status quo there. Danon also charged that the Palestinians were using the Temple Mount as an excuse to avoid making important decisions on the future of their people.
If the international community was genuinely committed to promoting peace and tolerance, Danon said, the UN Security Council must unequivocally condemn the incitement fueling terrorism. The UN body should support direct negotiations, added the ambassador, and the durable peace agreements Israel shares with Egypt and Jordan were the proof that direct negotiations between the parties are the only path to reaching calm in the region.
Danon’s words to the Security Council come less than a week since he took up the position. Previously, the Likud member was an MK and the government’s minister of science.
The Times of Israel Community.