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Danon chides France in maiden UN speech

October 22, 2015

Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Danny Danon, addressed the Security Council for the first time, in a meeting about the situation in the Middle East.

Ambassador Danon responded to the French initiative which called to consider stationing international observers on the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, and said: “Israel will not agree to an international presence on the Temple Mount. If the international community wishes to be constructive, it should focus on ending the incitement. No nation represented in this chamber would accept the presence of international forces in their capital.”

Ambassador Danon turned to the French representative and said: “we know that your country wants to see peace in our region. We too want peace, but the only way to peace is with direct talks between the parties.”

The Ambassador emphasized that: “Israel opposes any change in the status quo on the Temple Mount. The place where the status quo needs to change is here at the UN. If the UN is truly interested in calming tensions and bringing peace to the region, it must change its default settings. The UN must end its usual practice of calling on both sides to show restraint, and state clearly: there is one side that is instigating a wave of terror.”

Following the Security Council speech, the Ambassador held a media stakeout where he spoke about the French initiative and said: “In France in 2005, civil unrest broke out for over a month. Nearly ten thousand cars were set ablaze. French authorities declared a state of emergency. And yet, no one suggested to send observers to the Champs Elysees.”

Ambassador Danon also responded to the letter submitted by the Palestinian Representative, Riyad Mansour, and to Mansour’s remarks to the media, in which he denied that the Palestinian Authority teaches its students to hate. Ambassador Danon distributed booklets with examples of incitement in the Palestinian educational system, collected by the Ministry for Strategic Affairs since 2009:

“Mansour writes hundreds of letters to the Security Council and the Secretary General, has spoken at countless events at the UN. Yet, maybe you can help me find in them even one condemnation of Palestinian terror. I couldn’t find it. Not one. The denial of Mansour is not surprising. He does this to divert the discussion away from the toxic statements made by President Mahmoud Abbas.”

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