Israeli Ambassador Excluded from UN Emergency Session

Israel’s ambassador to the UN was excluded from an emergency session of the UN Security Council after an exchange of fire in the north killed two IDF soldiers and a Spanish peacekeeper. 

The UN Security Council convened in New York on Wednesday night to discuss the latest flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah after terrorists belonging to the militant organization attacked an IDF patrol with anti-tank rockets, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, was not invited to participate. It remains unclear why he was not invited.

Israel has blamed Iran, via Lebanon and Syria, for the deaths of the two IDF soldiers and a Spanish UN peacekeeper on Wednesday morning when Hezbollah fired five anti-tank missiles at IDF vehicles in the Har Dov region in the North.

“Today, Iran is the one arming, organizing, funding and launching its messengers of terror on our borders in the north and the south,” Netanyahu stated on Thursday.

Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, which claimed the lives of IDF Staff Sergeant Dor Chaim Nini, 20; IDF Major Yochai Kalangel, 25, and Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, 36.

“Israel extends its condolences to UNIFIL and the Spanish government over the death of one of its soldiers earlier today,” Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor stated on Wednesday.

“Israel will not stand by as Hezbollah targets Israelis and will not accept any attacks on its territory. Israel will exercise its right to self-defense and take all necessary measures to protect its population,” he said in a letter to the UN Security Council.

Spain is blaming Israel for Toledo’s death. The UN held an emergency session Wednesday evening, demanding an investigation.

Prosor: Israel Will Exercise Self-Defense

“I urged the UN Security Council to unequivocally and publicly condemn Hezbollah,” Prosor declared, adding that the attack “was a result of the international community ignoring our numerous alerts on the escalating threat posed by Hezbollah.”

During the meeting, Spanish Ambassador to the UN Roman Oyarzun Marchesi expressed his “deepest concern about the deterioration of the situation in south Lebanon,” which, he said, “resulted from the rocket attacks launched by Hezbollah from the UNIFIL area of operations toward Israel and the artillery fire which followed across the blue-line [UN border demarcation since 2000].”

At the conclusion of the session, he told journalists: “It was because of this escalation of violence, and it came from the Israeli side.”

“We support Israel’s legitimate right to self-defense and continue to urge all parties to respect the blue line between Israel and Lebanon,” US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki stated.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for “maximum calm and restraint” in order to “prevent any escalation in an already-tense regional environment.”

Reports indicate that neither Israel nor Hezbollah is interested in an escalation.

By: Atara Beck, World Israel News Staff