“These attempts to cut us off from our homeland and our heritage will not succeed,” he told the council.
By DANIELLE ZIRIDanny Danon(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
NEW YORK – UN Ambassador Danny Danon slammed the world body Wednesday for meddling in Israeli politics by funding the left-wing NGO B’Tselem.In 2016, three UN agencies provided funding to B’Tselem, which Danon said is “no coincidence.”Last week, Hagai El-Ad, the executive director of B’Tselem, participated in an informal Security Council meeting, initiated by the Palestinian delegation to the UN, in order to discuss settlements as an obstacle to peace.“It is part of a cynical cycle in which the UN funds B’Tselem and similar organizations that have a particular political agenda, and then invites them to provide so-called ‘expert testimony,’” he said at Wednesday’s Security Council meeting on the Middle East. “This constitutes a direct interference in our democratic process by anti-Israel elements here at the UN.”Danon then called on the council to put an end to UN funding for extremist organizations that seek to harm Israel.Danon continued pointing a finger at the UN and its agencies, addressing the recent UNESCO resolution denying the historical connection between the Jewish people and holy sites in Jerusalem, which he called “an embarrassing stain on the pages of UN history.”“These attempts to cut us off from our homeland and our heritage will not succeed,” he told the council.“We will remain in our land and in our capital of Jerusalem forever.”Danon concluded his statement by presenting a box of documents to the council, which he explained was full of UN resolutions and reports complied against Israel since October 2015.“This is proof of the UN’s hypocrisy when it comes to Israel,” he said.
“More people have been killed in Syria in the past few months than in the entire history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Yet the UN passed six times as many resolutions against Israel than all other countries combined.”The Palestinian representative to the international body, Riyad Mansour urged the forum to provide support for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which he said “requires immediate support to enable it to overcome the debilitating funding crisis it faces, which if unresolved will have far-reaching negative consequences.”