The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question

Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Council,

Let me thank Under-Secretary-General Mr. Lynn Pascoe for his informative, important briefing which highlighted the very complex, broader aspects of the situation in the Middle East.

May I also, Mr. President, with your permission, take this opportunity to bid farewell to a friend, a diplomat, the Permanent Representative of the UK for his great work for peace and security in this Council, and wish you, Sir John Sawers, a lot of success in your next mission.

The Security Council convenes today for this monthly debate on the “Situation in the Middle East and the Question of Palestine.”

Since the last meeting on this matter, an important trilateral meeting took place amongst United States, Palestinian, and Israeli leaders. Since the last meeting, Special Envoy Senator Mitchell and his team relentlessly engaged in an effort to put the peace process back on track.

And less than a week ago, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the President of the United States. Allow me to congratulate President Obama and the people of the United States for this honorable recognition.

The Nobel Prize was granted to President Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people and pursuit of peace.” The Middle East is indeed one of the areas yearning for peace; a peace based on the vision laid down by the United Nations itself in 1947: two states for two peoples.

Mr. President,

Israel seeks peace. We want a genuine peace, a defensible peace, a permanent peace. A peace in which two states, one Jewish, one Palestinian, will live side by side, in peace and security. Recognizing such a vision will move the peace process forward. Terrorism, bloodshed, and incitement will not.

Mr. President,

Let me briefly describe the reality on the ground. As I have lately communicated to you, the month of September witnessed an alarming rise in terrorist attacks.

In the south, thirteen rockets and mortars were fired at Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Fifteen other attacks were launched with light weapons and anti-tank missiles. There were multiple attempts by terrorists to infiltrate Israel and to plant explosives along the fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

To our north, three rockets were launched on Israeli territory from southern Lebanon.

The Hizbullah terrorist organization continues to receive deadly weapons from its sponsors, members of this organization. At the same time, Hizbullah builds a military infrastructure in the midst of the civilian population south of the Litani River. Its operatives and affiliated civilians openly threaten UNIFIL, obstructing it from discharging its mandate.

The explosions on July 16th of an actively maintained weapons depot in Khirbat Silim proved beyond any doubt that Hizbullah’s violations are the greatest obstacle to the implementation of resolution 1701.

In addition, just two days before this meeting, another explosion of arms occurred in a civilian home in the village of Tayr Filsi.

This grave incident highlights, once again, a reality we have been facing for years in southern Lebanon, as well as in Gaza: a terrorist organization, rearming and deploying within civilian areas, endangering not only peace and security, but cynically the very civilians themselves.

The evidence of this phenomenon is clear, as was displayed yesterday in southern Lebanon as seen on TV or on our computer screens. We expect UNIFIL and the relevant UN authorities to promptly conduct a thorough investigation into this incident, and to share its findings with the governments of Lebanon, Israel, and the members of the Security Council.

Southern Lebanon, Mr. President, is occupied by terrorism. Hizbullah’s terrorism.

We trust that the upcoming Secretary-General’s report on resolution 1701 will offer practical and tangible steps towards further implementation of this important resolution.

This, Mr. President, is the situation in the Middle East.

Behind Hizbullah’s defiance and build-up stands Iran. Iran’s sponsorship and support of terrorism pushes the region towards instability and conflict.

As Iran hurtles towards nuclear weapons capabilities coupled with long-range missiles, its leaders refuse to truthfully answer the inquiries and demands of the international community. The recent Iranian admission of a uranium enrichment plant outside Qom leaves no doubt: the Iranian nuclear program is an international crisis.

This country –– Iran –– is driven by religious extremism, officially sponsors Holocaust denial, and violently suppresses the democratic aspirations of its citizens, while continuing to promote international terrorism. The world’s most dangerous weapons are quickly falling into the hands of the most dangerous regime in the world.

This is the real threat to peace and security in our region and in the world.
Mr. President,

Five years ago, in the pursuit of peace, Israel dismantled 21 settlements and uprooted over 8,000 Israelis from the Gaza Strip.

Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Israel’s actions a “courageous decision.” This very Council “commend[ed] the ongoing implementation of [the disengagement process].” Member States assured us that if Israel needed to defend itself, international legitimacy would be on our side.

Yet Israel’s hope turned into a nightmare. Instead of promoting a functioning Palestinian society, Hamas built an infrastructure of terror. Instead of promoting peace, Hamas murdered and silenced opposition, while inciting an entire generation to kill and hate.

Gaza is occupied by terrorism. Hamas terrorism.

Hamas openly rejects Israel’s right to exist. Hamas openly rejects a two-state solution. Their charter calls for Jews to be killed and quotes notorious anti-Semitic citations. Yet the world does nothing.

As Hamas smuggled a constant supply of deadly Iranian arms into Gaza, the world did nothing. As Hamas placed weapons and launched attacks from within schools, mosques and hospitals, the world did nothing. As Hamas fired 12,000 rockets against one million innocent Israeli men, women and children, the world did nothing. This, Mr. President, is the situation in the Middle East.

Mr. President, Distinguished Members of this Council,

This monthly debate, this monthly meeting was supposed to take place next week, but was rescheduled due to what was described as the urgency of the matter.

An officious bystander would think that the issue of such an urgent meeting would be the continuous shelling of Israeli territory by terrorists from Gaza and Lebanon, or the continuous threats from Iran’s nuclear development.

However, the “urgency” of the matter is a pretext to hijack the Council’s agenda by raising here an issue that belongs elsewhere.

The Member State responsible for this dereliction of procedure is, as we all know, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

This is the Member State, a true champion of human rights, who recently offered an official triumphant hero’s welcome to an arch-terrorist. This arch-terrorist is responsible for the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of innocent men, women and children over the skies of Lockerbie.

This is the same Member State, whose leader in his memorable soliloquy before the General Assembly three weeks ago, named this Security Council a “Terror Council.”

Mr. President,

Today we heard references to the Goldstone Report. Although the debate on this report belongs elsewhere, let me state Israel’s position briefly.

I regret to say that the Goldstone report is one-sided, biased and therefore wrong – just as the forum and the mandate that established its mission. The report favors and legitimizes terrorism. It is a prize for terrorist organizations.

It denies Israel’s right to defend its citizens. It falls directly into the pitfall strategically laid down by terrorist organizations around the world. It prevents, and will prevent democratic Member States from defending themselves against terrorism. It permits terrorists to victimize civilians, target the innocent, and use as human shields those it claims to defend.

By trying to bring this report before a so-called urgent debate in this Council, this Council’s attention was diverted from the reality in our region.

Rather than dealing with the situation in the Middle East and instead of encouraging the parties to move towards peace and resume negotiations, the debate in this Council has been shifted to discussing a narrative that is destructive to the peace process.

For those of us who seek to resume the peace process in the Middle East, debating the Goldstone Report in the Security Council is but a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

If Israel is asked to take further risks for peace, the international community must recognize our right to self-defense.