Israel Slams Abbas in Letter to U.N.
Israel sent a letter to the United Nations slamming Palestinian President Mahmous Abbas for failing to condemn Wednesday’s rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
“With the roar of rockets echoing from the Gaza Strip, silence from the Palestinian Authority is unacceptable,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor said in the letter, which was sent to both the UN Secretary General and Security Council.
The letter echoed recent comments by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that Abbas is the “greatest obstacle” to regional order, by criticizing the Palestinian Authority.
It acknowledged that “Israel holds the Hamas terrorist organization fully responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza, where it remains in de facto control.” However, it took Abbas to task for failing to condemn the attack, alluding that it is testimony to the ineffectiveness of the recent reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah.
“Israel is still waiting to hear President Abbas clearly condemn Hamas for the terror that continues to flow from Gaza,” it said.
“The rockets that continue to fly out of the area illustrate a basic truth: the Palestinian Authority has absolutely zero authority in the Gaza Strip. While President Abbas continues his unilateral march for state recognition at the United Nations, the Palestinians are far from meeting the basic criteria for statehood, particularly the test of effective control,” said the letter, adding, “So-called Palestinian unity has been – and remains – a virtual reality.”
Prosor went on to emphasize the terrorist threats facing Israel. “The terrorist rockets in Gaza are traveling further – and their warheads are getting larger. This is a direct result of the continuous smuggling of advanced weapons from Iran and others into the Gaza Strip. Preventing this illegal activity is an integral part of Security Council resolution 1860, but it receives hardly any attention from the international community.”
In addition, the letter said dozens of Israelis were treated for shock following the rocket fire which landed in Ashdod late Wednesday, and that on Thursday morning more than 3,000 Israeli children were kept out of school to ensure their safety.
Prosor’s letter was submitted to the United Nations one day after Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour filed a complaint about Lieberman’s recent attacks on Abbas.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
