From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 6, 2022
‘You’re pissing me off’: Foreign Ministry official said to yell at European diplomats
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official yelled two weeks ago at diplomats and ambassadors from 16 European countries, rebuking them with undiplomatic language for filing a protest against Jerusalem’s treatment of Palestinians, according to the Walla news site, which cites three European and Israeli diplomats familiar with the matter.
The envoys reportedly filed the letter of protest over settler violence against Palestinians, settlement construction near Ma’ale Adumim and in East Jerusalem’s Givat Hamatos, and the situation in Area C of the West Bank which is administered by Israel.
But the routine meeting with Aliza Bin Noun, the director of the European Affairs Department at the Foreign Ministry, didn’t go as planned.
Bin Noun, the former ambassador to France, reportedly snapped at the foreign diplomats, saying their arguments were insulting: “After everything the new Israeli government has been doing for the Palestinians, you come to complain?”
Refusing to address the points raised, Bin Noun reportedly shouted: “You are pissing me off.” The European diplomats said the atmosphere was bad and got out of control quickly, with the meeting breaking down and ending in a “big crisis.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liot Haiat appears to confirm the report, commenting to Walla that “sometimes, European positions are presented in a manner that is unacceptable to us and that deserves a sharp and clear response, even if our reaction isn’t nice toward the Europeans.”
The Times of Israel Community.