Liberman orders Defense Ministry to blackball UN Mideast envoy — report

The Defense Ministry was reportedly ordered to blackball United Nations Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov in retaliation for the agency’s criticism of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian structures in the West Bank.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ordered staff to boycott Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and refuse to work with him, Channel 2 reported Wednesday.

Both the Defense Ministry and Mladenov declined to comment on the TV report.

“UN Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov is currently in New York where tomorrow the UN Secretary General will be briefing the UN Security Council on the latest developments on the ground,” a UN official from the special coordinator’s office said.

In 2014, then-foreign minister Liberman unsuccessfully attempted to expel Mladenov’s predecessor Robert Serry from Israel for proposing a transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas employees in Gaza in an effort to resolve a pay crisis.

Mladenov drew fire from Israeli officials following a briefing to the UN Security Council last month in which he pummeled Israel for a “surge” in its West Bank settlement building while demolishing Palestinian homes.

“For years we have been managing this conflict, while the occupation has continued, Palestinians have been dispossessed, and a one-state reality has been establishing itself on the ground,” Mladenov said at an August 29 briefing. “It is time for all of us — the leaders on both sides, with support from the region and the international community, to end the conflict on the basis of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and in a manner that meets the legitimate national aspirations of both peoples.”

Since July 1, Israel has advanced plans for over 1,000 housing units in East Jerusalem and 735 units in the West Bank, Mladenov told the Security Council.

He singled out the Bedouin communities east of Jerusalem and in Susiya in the southern West Bank, warning that “the demolition of this community would set a dangerous precedent for displacement.”

The international community has been expressing growing alarm to the effect that the construction of Jewish settlements on land earmarked for a future Palestinian state is killing off prospects for a peace deal based on the two-state solution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected calls for a halt to settlement expansion, arguing that the residential projects are not an obstacle to peace.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.