With 5 days having gone by since kidnappings, Prosor turns to int'l community: Where are you?

Israeli envoy chides those in int'l community who "rushed to bless" Palestinian unity gov't, demands they "take responsibility by condemning the kidnapping."

By MAYA SHWAYDER
Ron Prosor (photo credit: COURTESY ISRAELI EMBASSY TO US‏)
Ron Prosor
(photo credit: COURTESY ISRAELI EMBASSY TO US‏)
NEW YORK – Israel’s ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor gave a short statement to the press on Tuesday morning, publicly addressing the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers for the first time since their disappearance on Thursday evening.
“It has been five days since our boys went missing. I ask the international community – where are you? Where are you?” Prosor demanded. “The kidnapping took place just 10 days after Fatah and Hamas formed a unity government. All those in the international community who rushed to bless this marriage, should look into the eyes of the heartbroken parents and have the courage to take responsibility by condemning the kidnapping.”
Israel is now paying for the “bad deal” that the international community bought when it supported the newly formed Palestinian unity government, Prosor said. “It’s worth recalling that the Palestinians recently signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. They obviously signed without reading it.”
Prosor did not take any questions.
The Israeli mission is putting pressure on the UN to turn the pressure on the Palestinians to disarm Hamas, cease the smuggling and manufacturing of weapons and to prevent further rocket fire – which has intensified in the past five days since the teenagers’ kidnapping.
On Saturday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement condemning the students’ abduction and called for their immediate release.
He also expressed “deep concern” about the increasingly violent situation around the Gaza strip including, he said, the death of “a child in Gaza as a result of a recent Israeli air strike.”
He also expressed his condolences to that family.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the secretary-general said that the UN stands ready to offer assistance in this matter, should any Israeli official request it.
The UN General Assembly and Security Council have remained largely silent on the matter of the kidnapping, focusing on the recent bursts of violence and escalating crises in Iraq and eastern Ukraine.