The UN Security Council plans to criticize Israel during a meeting of the Quartet forum this week. The UN statement report states the policies of the current administration “is steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution. This raises legitimate questions about Israel’s long-term intentions, which are compounded by the statements of some Israeli ministers that there should never be a Palestinian state…”
The Prime Minister’s Office on Erev Shabbos released the following statement:
In the 24 hours before the publication of the Quartet report, Palestinian terrorists stabbed and shot innocent Israelis three times, leaving two dead and others wounded. Today a young father was killed and his wife and children injured when their car was riddled with gunfire. Yesterday a 13-year-old Israeli girl was stabbed to death while she slept in her bed. Not only did the Palestinian Authority fail to condemn this gruesome murder, it referred to the murderer as a “martyr” in official media.
Palestinian praise for murderers today inspires those who will strike tomorrow. This response reflects the moral bankruptcy of the Palestinian leadership and leaves little doubt about its true intentions.
Israel therefore welcomes the Quartet’s recognition of the centrality of Palestinian incitement and violence to the perpetuation of the conflict. This culture of hatred poisons minds and destroys lives and stands as the single greatest obstacle to progress towards peace.
The report unfortunately says nothing about the payments made by the Palestinian leadership to terrorists and their families. The graver the violence, the greater the payment. This Palestinian practice must stop.
Israel shares the Quartet’s historical commitment to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace through direct, bilateral negotiations without preconditions.
In previous agreements, Israel and the Palestinians committed to discuss every difficult issue exclusively through direct, bilateral negotiations. Nevertheless, the record shows a history of repeated Palestinian rejection of offers to negotiate and compromise from Israeli governments across the political spectrum. Israel cannot negotiate peace with itself.
Israel also notes the Quartet’s concern about the military buildup in Gaza and the threat posed by Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, to both Israeli and Palestinian lives.
We regret the failure of the Quartet to address the real core of the conflict: the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people in any boundaries.
The report also perpetuates the myth that Israeli construction in the West Bank is an obstacle to peace. When Israel froze settlements, it did not get peace. When Israel uprooted every settlement in Gaza, it did not get peace. It got war.
It is troubling that the Quartet appears to have adopted the position that the presence of Jews living in the West Bank somehow prevents reaching a two-state solution. The presence of nearly 1.8 million Arabs in Israel isn’t a barrier to peace; it is a testament to our pluralism and commitment to equality.
Israel rejects any attempt to draw moral equivalence between construction and terrorism. So too do we reject the parallels suggested between the campaign of Palestinian terrorism and the violence of marginal elements in Israeli society. The former is lauded by the Palestinian leadership. The latter is utterly condemned and rejected by Israelis across the board.
Israel will continue to strive for a genuine, negotiated peace based on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s vision of two states for two peoples. While the report includes numerous factual and policy assertions with which we take issue, Israel will discuss with the Quartet envoys ways to explore moving toward this end.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
The quartet and the UN is a hypocritical band of moshav leitzim.
What’s the point with these useless stories? Why should we care what these anti-semites think? They are the one’s violating international law by interfering with a sovereign State and by funding terrorism against it.
Real international law, as opposed to their fictitious one, shows that ALL the Land belongs to us. It was given to Israel in 1948, taken by the Arabs in war and won back in a defensive war.
The world only cared for a dead Jews. Now it doesn’t care for even that. We should tell them where to stick it and annex everything that rightfully belongs to us, both historically and real international law and evict the interlopers, especially the one’s that won’t or can’t be civil. Our blood shouldn’t be so cheap.
#2 If the UN would back Israel, in one minute their Headquarters would be turned to ash. They have no choice but utter statements the Arabs and anti-Semites want to hear whether Israel likes it or not. Israel will anyhow do whatever they want.
#3. The problem is that Israel does NOT do what it wants. It caves in much of the time.
UN headquarters are in NY. It wouldn’t be turned into ash, as you put it. Look how many nations there are, who they are and how the votes stack up.
Our so-called “best friend, while it offers some protection for us in the UN, actually funds terrorism and causes us much harm, backing us into a corner all the time and forcing us to negotiate with terrorism from a position of weakness.