Israeli Foreign Minister Slams UN ‘Experts’ Call for Arms Embargo

February 26, 2024

by: Joshua Spurlock ~ Middle East Update

Monday, 26 February 2024 | Israel had strong words against the United Nations [UN] over the weekend after the UN Human Rights Council published an article by various so-called “UN experts” calling for an arms embargo against Israel, the article which also barely referenced Hamas. The embargo call comes as the UN has been under intense scrutiny for its own failure to curb—or, in some cases, directly participate in—Hamas terrorist activity.

In a post to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote in response to the embargo call: “Since the October 7 massacre, the @UN has cooperated with Hamas terrorists and is trying to undermine Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens. Ignoring the war crimes, sexual crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas terrorists constitutes a stain that cannot be erased on the UN as an organization and personally on the UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres himself.”

The UN article, published to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR] website on Friday, cites many “UN experts” who are members of the UN Human Rights Council’s voluntary independent monitoring group. These “experts” allege in the article that Israel is “likely” to violate international humanitarian law with weapons transferred to them by other nations, and therefore, such weapons provisions should stop.

Among the experts behind the report is a known anti-Israel terrorist sympathizer, Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese. The Times of Israel cited a long list of controversial statements from Albanese over the years, including anti-Semitic comments about the “Jewish lobby” controlling the US and a post to X that indicated justification for Hamas massacring Israelis on October 7 by noting that attack was “in response to Israel’s oppression.”

The report published to the UN OHCHR website praised a February Dutch court order for the Netherlands to stop exporting parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, as well as moves by Belgium, Italy, Spain and Japan’s Itochu Corporation to cease arms exports to Israel. They also highlighted the European Union’s discouragement of arms transfers to Israel.

The article, which repeatedly lists allegations against Israel without context, makes no mention of Hamas’ use of human shields and only briefly references “grave violations of international law” that include taking hostages and “indiscriminate rocket fire” by Hamas. No specific mention is made of the slaughter of Israeli civilians nor of the number of Israelis murdered or kidnapped.

The UN-promoted arms embargo report comes as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees [UNWRA] has been exposed in media reports as not only failing to report Hamas’ building a facility under the UNWRA Gaza headquarters and using it as a de facto human shield, but actually for having members of UNWRA participate in the October 7 crimes against Israel. These reports include articles by the Times of Israel and the Washington Post.

“No one in @UNRWA can claim “I did not know” when your workers murdered, raped and kidnapped Israelis! We cannot turn a blind eye to UNRWA’s hypocrisy any longer,” Director of the Digital Diplomacy Bureau in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amb. David Saranga posted to X on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant emphasized in a call with his American counterpart on Thursday that Israel is committed to acting according to international humanitarian law. According to a recap of Gallant’s call with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Gallant said, “The Israel Defense Forces is operating professionally, in a complex environment against a brutal terrorist organization that embeds its military infrastructure and operatives among the civilian population and sensitive civilian institutions such as hospitals.

“We have successfully dismantled the Khan Younis Hamas brigade. Our operations in Khan Younis reflect our policy since the start of the war—working precisely, distinguishing between terrorists and civilians, and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid despite numerous threats.”

Posted on February 26, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on February 25, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today.)

Photo Credit: ששון תירם /Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia