Palestinians: Israel’s envoy lying about normalized Arab ties
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said that the threat from Iran had created a bridge between Israel and the Arab world that has allowed for normalization of ties.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFPLO envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel's envoy is lying about normalized ties with the Arab world, PLO Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, as he explained that the only path to peace and Middle East security was a two-state solution at the pre-1967 lines.His statement followed a speech by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, who said that the threat from Iran had created a bridge between Israel and the Arab world that has allowed for normalization of ties.Mansour launched into a verbal attack against Danon, without ever using his formal name, referring to him either as the ambassador, the speaker or a liar.Danon is living in a “fantasy land” if he thinks that he is "is opening the door for normalization with Arab countries," Mansour said.He noted that all the Arab countries who spoke at the meeting, as well as many other nations and most security council member states, reiterated their commitment to a two-state solution.“So he can listen to whatever noise there is in his head; he is refusing to listen to the Security Council members," he said.It’s impossible to address instability in the region without resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mansour said. He warned that failure to resolve the conflict along with “reckless” Israelis actions in Jerusalem on al-Haram al-Sharif, known to Israel as the Temple Mount, were “provoking a religious conflict in Palestine."The solution is very clear: a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 lines, with a just solution to the refugee issue and east Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state, Mansour said.He speculated that perhaps Danon was “deaf" and should “go to a doctor to fix his ears" or that he is simply “unable to accept what all of you are articulating," the PLO official said.He warned that US President Donald Trump’s pending peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, known as the “Deal of the Century,” was “not peace-making" and was bound to fail.
Mansour further charged that the US had paralyzed the work of the UN Security Council with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by perpetually using its veto power to block action.“A permanent member’s use of veto has further undermined the council and exacerbated the situation,” making it impossible to hold Israel accountable for its “crimes,” Mansour said.He challenged Danon to say whether he accepted the authority of the council.What is needed is the enforcement of prior Security Council resolutions regarding the conflict, Mansour said.He called for an international peace conference and a multilateral political process with a set time table to resolve the conflict, based on past international understandings and relevant UN resolutions.Danon was also “lying” when he said that the Palestinians were not interested in peace or in the two-state solution, Mansour said. He recalled that they had already given up the bulk of what they considered to be historic Palestine by accepting a state in the West Bank and Gaza on only 22% of that territory.Who is it that is “destroying the global consensus on two states? Is it the Palestinian leadership... or is it the extreme Israeli government of occupation that is destroying any hope of peace?” Mansour asked.The “extreme” government Danon represents is “creating a reality of one-state apartheid in historic Palestine,” he said.
