JERUSALEM, Israel – A group of mostly anti-Israel countries pressed the United Nations Security Council on Monday to turn Israel into a punching bag again for merely defending itself against the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist movement. In remarks ahead of the summit, Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan singled out Norway and Ireland, often critical of the Jewish state, for their role in securing an emergency meeting. “How would Norway react to Islamists planning to launch rockets at civilians in Oslo? How would Ireland react if Jihad rocket launchers rained down on Dublin in an attempt to wipe out the ‘infidel’?” he asked.
Israel waged a three-day conflict with the US-designated foreign terrorist organization PIJ. Erdan said, “Palestinian (Islamic) Jihad deliberately fired eleven hundred rockets at Israeli civilians, with about two hundred landing inside the Gaza Strip, killing innocent Palestinians and among them small children.” The Islamic Republic of Iran – the world’s worst international sponsor of terrorism – has played a key role in inciting violence against Israel, Middle East experts say. Erdan noted, “Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a radical terrorist organization, armed, financed and trained by Iran.” PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD ROCKET BARAGE INTO ISRAEL FILING BACK IN ‘PERIPHERAL TENTACLES OF IRAN’, EXPERTS SAY China holds the presidency of the Security Council this month and supported the emergency meeting. The council meeting comes at a time of monumental crisis, in which the United Nations appears largely paralyzed. A possible nuclear disaster is unfolding in Ukraine after bombings hit a nuclear facility controlled by Russia. Observers say the UN Security Council has been largely powerless in its efforts to stop a crippling six-month war between Russia and Ukraine that has left tens of thousands dead, many more injured and millions displaced, mostly women and children. Russia has faced accusations of war crimes in Ukraine. In a reference to the recent US neutralization of al-Qaeda commander Ayman al-Zawahiri in late July, Erdan struck a double standard. Israel’s UN ambassador Gilad Erdan addresses the press outside the Security Council chamber. ((Courtesy: Israeli Mission to the United Nations.)) US EXPORTS ALQAEDA LEADER AYMAN AL-ZAWAHRI IN ‘SUCCESSFUL’ COUNTER-TERRORIST OPERATION IN AFGHANISTAN “That is precisely why, when al-Zawahiri was eliminated, this institution, as well as the greater world, gave its full support. This was a step closer to eliminating radical terror from the world. However, when Israel neutralizes such terrorists to prevent an imminent attack on our civilians, UN officials are unabashedly expressing deep concern. This is a blatant double standard and will not be tolerated,” he said. As the Security Council met, Tor Wennesland, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, noted, “preliminary numbers, which have not yet been confirmed, show that since August 5, the Israel Defense Forces have launched 147 air strikes strikes against targets in Gaza. Palestinian militants fired an estimated 1,110 rockets and mortars into Israel, many of which landed deep inside Israeli territory.” He added, “During the escalation, 46 Palestinians were killed and 360 injured, and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, along with other civilian infrastructure. Seventy Israelis were injured, with damage to homes and other civilian structures.” The Israeli government documented that PIJ rockets killed Palestinian children and destroyed Gaza infrastructure. The United Nations Security Council meets to discuss the latest situation in the Middle East. (Fox News Digital) During his remarks at the council, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour did not criticize the terror group for targeting Israel and called the Israeli operation an “unprovoked and unprovoked attack”.
Mansour attributed the Israeli pre-emptive military operation to stop PIJ rockets from entering Israel to the “upcoming Israeli elections”. According to conspiracy theories circulating in far-left and radical Islamic circles, Israel eliminated the PIJ leadership as an electoral ploy to boost Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s electoral chances in Israel’s November elections. UN BODY ISSUES ‘ANTISEMITIC REPORT’ AGAINST ISRAEL, JUDGES CAME The three European countries that, in addition to the United Arab Emirates and China, invited the meeting appeared to turn a blind eye to the designation of PIJ as a terrorist organization. The French diplomat spoke of ending the “spiral of violence” but omitted any explicit criticism of the PIJ as a terrorist movement.
Norway’s representative accused Israel of “occupying” and “building up” in his remarks. The Norwegian official did not invoke the PIJ. The Irish diplomat called Israel an “occupying power”. It is not clear what the Irish diplomat meant by claiming that Israel owns the Gaza Strip. Israel has not had a presence in Gaza since 2005 when it withdrew from the Palestinian enclave. There are no Israeli soldiers or civilians in Gaza. However, Hamas is holding two Israelis hostage and will not release the bodies of two other Israeli soldiers. The representative of Ireland mirrored Norway and France in not naming the PIJ as a terrorist movement and the nature of its ideology. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In stark contrast to the three Europeans’ rebukes against Israel, the US ambassador to the World Council, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said: “Let’s be clear: Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a designated terrorist organization in the United States and many others. And it is also a proxy of Iran, which has carried out attacks against innocent civilians for years.”
He called on the fractured body to “unite and unconditionally renounce the terrorism of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” Thomas-Greenfield stressed that “we fully support Israel’s right to defend its people against terrorist threats, including rockets targeting civilians.” Benjamin Weinthal reports on Middle East affairs. You can follow Benjamin Weinthal on Twitter @BenWeinthal.