Israel’s envoy to the United Nations lashed the Palestinians for what he described as “poison and lies” at an emergency Security Council session on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s recent visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The council’s members, including the US, repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining the status quo at the flashpoint compound, while the Palestinians warned of violence and denied any Israeli claim to the site, the holiest in Judaism.
Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan said the meeting, held in response to the visit by Ben Gvir on Tuesday, was “absurd” and hypocritical. Ben Gvir’s 13-minute visit to the site was met with international condemnations and expressions of concern.
“We are here discussing the peaceful 13-minute visit of a Jewish minister to the holiest Jewish site under the sovereignty of the liberal democracy of Israel,” said Erdan, who blasted the 15-member Security Council for not holding similar meetings in response to Russian actions in Ukraine, Palestinian terror or Iranian attacks on international shipping.
“This meeting creates a sense of emergency over a non-event,” he added
