Israel’s UN ambassador blasts international calls for ‘calm on both sides’ in Jerusalem, asks: What sides?

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan slammed the international community on Monday for urging “calm on both sides” over recent violent events in Jerusalem. “From both sides? Who are the two sides?” he asked.

Erdan noted that there is no moral equivalence between “bloodthirsty terrorists calling to murder Jews” and a “law abiding democracy that guarantees freedom of worship to everyone.” He compared anyone in the international community who makes such comparisons to an ostrich putting its head in the sand.

“Stop placing Israel and the extreme terror organizations as equals on the same level and call for calm on both sides. Such calls only validate terror activity and contribute to increase the violence,” said Erdan.

“Just as we saw in recent days with missiles fired from Gaza and yesterday from Lebanon: There is only one side to blame here for the violence and chaos and these are the Palestinian terror organizations that are trying to hijack the Temple Mount and incite violence. The international community is hiding its head in the sand like an ostrich,” Erdan added.    

In a press conference ahead of a monthly UN Security Council meeting to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Erdan presented video footage that documented the unrest on the Temple Mount. The videos provide proof that Palestinian extremists bear the sole responsibility for the violence, according to a statement from Israel’s permanent delegation to the UN. They showed Palestinian extremists placing weapons inside the Muslim holy site, attacking Israeli security forces by hurling rocks and shooting fireworks.

However, the Security Council rejected Israel’s request to present the video evidence at the session itself.

“On the one side, we have the mobs of bloodthirsty terrorists, calling to murder Jews, carrying weapons into their places of worship, throwing firebombs and rocks from mosque windows, and shooting firecrackers from within their holy sites,” said Erdan.

The ambassador noted that terror organizations, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been spreading lies about the events. He lambasted members of the international community who have “adopted this false narrative.”

Despite Erdan’s appeal, the UN Security Council again denounced the “violence on both sides.”

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Alekseevich Nebenzya, whose country is waging a bloody war on Ukraine, said that Moscow is closely following the events around the al-Aqsa Mosque that resulted in multiple Palestinians injuries from rubber bullets and tear gas.

“We emphasize the need for restraint and the avoidance of unilateral steps,” he said.