Netanyahu Condemns U.N. Chief on Terror Comment

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Tuesday for blaming Palestinian terrorism on Israel.

Earlier in the day, Moon condemned the current wave of Palestinian terrorism, but qualified it with the observation that “it is human nature to react to occupation, which often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism.

“The secretary-general’s remarks provide a tailwind for terror. There is no justification for terror. Those Palestinians who murder do not want to build a state, they want to destroy a state and they say this openly,” Netanyahu said

“They want to murder Jews for being Jews and they say this openly. They do not murder for peace and they do not murder for human rights,” he added

Regarding the U.N. in general, Netanyahu said: “The United Nations long ago lost its neutrality and its moral force, and the secretary general’s remarks do not improve its standing,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon criticized the Security Council for its usual biased approach to Israel: “For the council it is business as usual when we’re talking about terrorism in Israel,” he said.

“The facts don’t lie, the council is hypocritical in its attitude towards Israel,” Danon said. “For the last four months, since the wave of terror began in Israel, the council has issued 12 resolutions against world terrorism, and zero resolutions against Palestinian terrorism in Israel.”

Ban made his comments in a Security Council session on the current situation in the Middle East. While lamenting “unacceptable levels of violence,” he asserted that security measures alone cannot “address the profound sense of alienation and despair driving some Palestinians – especially young people.”

“Stabbings, vehicle attacks, and shootings by Palestinians targeting Israeli civilians – all of which I condemn — and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, have continued to claim lives.”

The U.N. chief opined that “progress towards peace requires a freeze of Israel’s settlement enterprise.”

“Continued settlement activities are an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community. They rightly raise fundamental questions about Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution,” he said.

He also condemned Hamas rocket fire, and warning that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains perilous. “I continue to strongly believe that conditions in Gaza pose a severe threat to long-term peace and security in the region.”