From the Liveblog of
Saturday, October 12, 2024
FM defends decision to ban UN chief from Israel after over 100 member states protest
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Foreign Minister Israel Katz defends his decision to ban United Nations Secretary General António Guterres from the country, after more than 100 UN member nations protested the move.
In a joint letter, the nations stressed their “full support and confidence in the Secretary General and his work” and stated that Katz’s decision to declare him persona non grata harmed the UN’s “ability to carry out its mandate” and “could further delay an end to all hostilities and the establishment of a credible path towards the two-State solution.”
Katz responds dismissively to the letter, tweeting that the decision to proscribe the Portuguese diplomat had been spurred by his refusal to condemn Iran’s recent missile attack against Israel along with “his antisemitic and anti-Israeli behavior.”
He asserts nearly 90 percent of Israelis agree with his decision and that “Guterres can continue to try to collect signatures in support [of himself] from UN members [but] the decision will not be changed.”
In announcing its decision last week, the Foreign Ministry stated that it was in reaction to Guterres’s response to the attack, “in which he failed to mention Iran by name and did not unequivocally condemn its grave aggression.”
Following the ban, Guterres stated that “as should have been obvious yesterday in the context of the condemnation I expressed — I again strongly condemn yesterday’s massive missile attack by Iran on Israel.”
The Times of Israel Community.