From Erdan blasts Security Council for elevating session on Palestinian issue amid Ukraine crisis
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan blasts the UN Security Council for elevating the monthly session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a public debate at the last minute, rather than a closed-door session as had originally been planned.
“One might wonder what the urgency was to turn the closed monthly debate into an open one while such critical matters to global security are being discussed in the General Assembly as we speak,” Erdan says in his speech.
Today’s session was changed to an open debate by Russia, which chairs the meeting. Moscow’s representative asked Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour to address the session, giving an opening for Erdan to do the same.
A Western diplomat familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that the decision by Russia appeared to be an effort to “distract” from its controversial steps in Ukraine.
The Times of Israel Community.