Following Monday's UN report that confirms Hamas’ sexual atrocities on October 7 against women and men alike, Israel has launched a public diplomacy campaign with several goals, including making the UN recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization.
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The fallout between Israel and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reached new heights following the release of the condemning report when Foreign Minister Israel Katz decided to recall Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan for consultations.
Erdan returned to Israel but is already expected to leave for New York on Thursday night. In an interview with Ynet, he said that he isn’t sure if Katz's move was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I have no idea what's coordinated; there's a conventional process saying that when there's dissatisfaction with a country or the body an Israeli ambassador represents, the ambassador is returned for consultations. That's the process the foreign minister took, and of course, I respected his decision and came back to Israel as quickly as possible,” he said.
Erdan added that the UN’s report "isn’t enough." "The report’s findings are shocking. The question is what steps will be taken now, we’re trying to exert as much international pressure as possible," he noted.
"I’ll probably meet with the prime minister today; obviously, these aren’t regular times, and he's dealing with all sorts of things. Yesterday, I think there was an important meeting at the foreign ministry to try to focus efforts on Israel’s response to the report."
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UN Under-Secretary-General Pramila Patten (center) in Nahal Oz
(Photo: Foreign Ministry)
He argued that "if we reach a situation where, even in the face of this appalling report on Hamas’ sexual atrocities, the UN doesn’t take any real action, Israel needs to stop playing nice and take several extreme measures - such as vacating the UN headquarters currently in Jerusalem."
He also argued that "most of the area there isn’t being used and is unnecessary, and agencies are being stationed there for no reason like UNRWA, which has become a terrorist organization. UNRWA should be declared an 'unlawful association' which is similar to a terrorist organization because it has many members who are affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and this will allow us to evacuate their compounds in Jerusalem and in East Jerusalem."
Foreign Minister Katz instructed all Israeli diplomatic missions around the world on Thursday to launch a campaign in light of the findings raised by the UN report compiled by UN Under-Secretary-General Pramila Patten.
Israel wishes to echo the report’s findings in the international public discourse, thereby exerting pressure on the UN to define Hamas as a terrorist organization. According to Katz's guidelines, there’s an urgent need to convene the UN Security Council to discuss the report, and eventually issue explicit condemnation of Hamas for "committing widespread sexual crimes", as documented by Patten’s report.
The mission statement issued by Katz and the Foreign Ministry read, "The international community as a whole must recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. The UN still doesn’t define Hamas as a terrorist organization - this reality is unacceptable, especially after the report’s findings. This situation must change immediately."
The Foreign Ministry also addressed the UN's response to the findings, as well as the massacre itself, saying, "The UN’s lackluster response sends a message to Hamas that its actions are acceptable and won’t lead to sanctions against the terrorist organization. The UN can’t distance itself from its message which encourages Hamas to attack civilians.
"The lack of a sharp international response to the report, or a situation where its content doesn’t hold real consequences for Hamas, sends a message to the terrorist organization that its actions are acceptable, and that attacking innocent Israeli civilians using horrific means such as sexual violence isn’t considered a violation of all international taboos or consensus. Ignoring these crimes now will undermine the important norm relevant everywhere and for every human being."