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
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
