Ban Ki-Moon
Ban Ki-MoonReuters

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday accused Israel of causing the current Arab terror wave, saying the lethal attacks are "bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation."

Ban's comments came in a message delivered on his behalf at a UN conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the "Rights of the Palestinian people" and the situation in Jerusalem.

According to the UN head, the daily attempts to murder Jews are "the result of fear, humiliation, frustration and mistrust. It has been fed by the wounds of decades of bloody conflict, which will take a long time to heal. Palestinians youth in particular are tired of broken promises and they see no light at the end of the tunnel."

After blaming Israel's "settlement enterprise," Ban said, "Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world, holds shrines sacred to billions of people worldwide - Muslims, Jews and Christians alike. What happens in Jerusalem reverberates around the world.”

He also said any change to the status quo on the Temple Mount "carries with it the risk of conflict." At the Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, the Jordanian Waqf has been allowed to maintain de facto control and ban Jewish prayer rights.

Ban stated the "urgent need for leaders to rein in incitement," and said Israeli security forces must "ensure a calibrated use of force in response to incidents."

His comments come a day after a UN spokesperson accused Israel of using "excessive force" in stopping Arab terrorists from murdering its civilians.

Ban's remarks were made at a conference organized by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the Question of Jerusalem.

In the conference held in Jakarta, Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian group Al-Haq, also accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon sharply condemned the comments, and called the UN Committee for the Palestinian Arabs "a body detached from reality."

"There is no justification for terrorism," Danon said in direct criticism of Ban's attempt to blame Israel for the terror.

"Instead of wasting your time trying to rationalize Palestinian terrorism, the United Nations should confront the Palestinian Authority to eradicate incitement coming from its highest echelons, permeating into the education system and social networks,” Danon said.