Israeli ambassador calls for UN secretary-general to resign after 'shocking speech' on Hamas

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, October 24, 2023

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister following their meeting in Cairo on October 19, 2023 as Palestinians in war-torn Gaza await aid trucks promised in a deal struck by the US President with Egypt and Israel. | Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations called for the resignation of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday for what he described as a "shocking speech" suggesting the Hamas attack against Israel "did not happen in a vacuum."

"The shocking speech by the UN Secretary-General at the Security Council meeting, while rockets are being fired at all of Israel, proved conclusively, beyond any doubt, that the Secretary-General is completely disconnected from the reality in our region and that he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner," Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan wrote on X.

"His statement that, 'the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,' expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder," Erdan continued. "It's really unfathomable. It's truly sad that the head of an organization that arose after the Holocaust holds such horrible views. A tragedy!"

The shocking speech by the @UN Secretary-General at the Security Council meeting, while rockets are being fired at all of Israel, proved conclusively, beyond any doubt, that the Secretary-General is completely disconnected from the reality in our region and that he views the…
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan ???? ???? (@giladerdan1) October 24, 2023

Erdan asserted in another post that Guterres "shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly," and, therefore, "is not fit to lead the UN."

"I call on him to resign immediately," he added. "There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words."

Guterres' remarks came during Tuesday's meeting of the UN Security Council, where he condemned the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas targeting communities in southern Israel near the border with Gaza. At least 1,400 people, including 32 Americans, were killed, and over 200 were taken hostage.

The attack drew retaliatory Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, which the Hamas-run Palestinian health authorities claim has taken the lives of 5,700 people.

"Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians or the launching of rockets against civilian targets," Guterres, a Portuguese politician and diplomat who has served as UN secretary-general since 2017, said.

"It is important to also recognize that the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their lands devoured by settlements and plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced and their homes demolished."

"Their hopes for a political solution to their fight have been vanishing but the [grievances] of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas," he continued. "And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Excellencies, even war has rules. We must demand that all parties uphold and respect their obligations under international humanitarian law."

The @UN Secretary-General, who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN.

I call on him to resign immediately.

There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most…
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan ???? ???? (@giladerdan1) October 24, 2023

An Israeli official told Fox News Digital that Erdan's call for Guterres to step down was the first time an Israeli ambassador has demanded the UN secretary-general's resignation.

Other Israeli officials expressed outrage in response to Guterres' comments.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen canceled a planned meeting with him, saying that the Oct. 7 attack shows "there is no place for a balanced approach" and "Hamas must be erased off the face of the planet."

Knesset member Benny Gantz claimed Guterres is a "terror apologist."

Dark are the days when the United Nations Secretary General condones terror.

Absolutely nothing can justify the slaughter of innocent civilians.
Now is the time to stand on the right side of history, or be judged by it.

Terror apologists cannot speak on behalf of the world.
— ??? ??? - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 24, 2023

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), a global coalition, echoed Erdan's sentiments and called on Guterres to resign.

"It is unbelievable and unconscionable how out of touch with reality the UN secretary-general is," CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa said in a statement. "Over the last couple of weeks, our generation has had a chance to reflect and better understand how the Holocaust was allowed to happen by the silence and complicity of global decision-makers and opinion-shapers in the face of Nazi-style atrocities."

Dratwa went on to accuse Guterres of "victim-blaming" and exhibiting "different rules for Jews among all the other peoples of the world."

"He sees the blood of masses of Jews spilled and can only think of the political ramifications," Dratwa said. "Would he have said that the Holocaust didn't happen in a vacuum, which is a repugnant but sadly increasing global sentiment? These comments are just a thin whisper away and hold the Jewish people uniquely responsible for their own massacres, rapes, beheadings, and kidnappings."

The Christian Post has reached out to Guterres' office for comment.