Israel’s Ambassador to UN: Palestinian political theater is a great lie

The Palestinian leadership is happy with its current situation and does not truly seek peace, Danon charged. 

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Danny Danon addressed the UN General Assembly on Tuesday during a special session initiated by the Palestinian delegation marking the November 29^th 1947 UN vote to approve the Partition Plan.

The annual session is considered by the Palestinians as an occasion to pass anti-Israel resolutions, and this year they succeeded in passing six resolutions condemning Israel.

Danon slammed the spectacle as “a great lie” played out in a “political theater.”

“Do the Palestinians even want a state? History tells us that the answer is no,” Danon told the assembly. “If the Palestinians really wanted peace, we could have had peace decades ago. The Palestinians reject every Israeli offer and every plan and respond with waves of violence and terror.”

“Every year, on this date, this chamber holds this same, cynical, Israel-bashing festival,” he said. “Every year, we hear speaker after speaker distorting history and promoting a completely one-sided narrative.”

Danon held up the front page from the New York Times published on November 30, 1947, the day after the Partition Plan vote. The headlines read: “Assembly Votes Palestine Partition,” “Arabs Walk Out… Disavow Any Partition Role.”

“This is the whole story,” summarized danon.

The Palestinians were content with the current situation, Danon charged. “The Palestinian Authority pays lip-service to these initiatives because it pays well. The real goal of the PA is to continue to exist as a corrupt entity living off the goodwill of the international community without the responsibilities of governing. And they know the only way to do so is to continue the conflict.”

The General Assembly meeting took place as part of the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” marked by the UN annually on November 29^th. This year’s session took place as calls increased for the Security Council (UNSC) to take unilateral action against Israel in the coming weeks, as President Barack Obama may lend the US’ support to the move before he leaves office.

Ban Ki-moon, whose 10-year tenure as UN secretary-general ends in a month, said that the international community must make clear that it remains committed to peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians because the prospects of an agreement are “threatening to slip out of reach.”

“It is time to put an end to this lie, once and for all,” Danon told the Assembly. “If you really want to show solidarity with the Palestinian people then end this charade and demand that the Palestinian leaders finally return to the negotiating table,” he concluded.

By: Aryeh Savir, World ISrael News

Ban Ki-MoonDanonDiplomatic negotiationsUnited NationsUNSC