Danny Danon and Ban Ki-moon
Danny Danon and Ban Ki-moonShahar Ezran

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon reacted harshly to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s opening address at the UN General Assembly. The Secretary-General decided to take the opportunity to criticize Israel, saying: “Ten years of illegal settlement expansion and fifty years of occupation. This is madness. The Palestinians cannot continue to live under Israeli occupation.”

Ambassador Danon reacted by saying that “The real madness belongs to the UN. Instead of focusing on Palestinian terror and incitement, and instead of compelling [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table, the Secretary-General chose to criticize Israel once again. This is an obsession with Israel and it must end.”

“At a time when Palestinian terror is on the rise in Israel, the Secretary-General chose to criticize us and ignore the direct responsibility of Abbas and the Palestinian leadership who continue to incite towards terror.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said in every opportunity he gets that he is willing to meet with Abbas "anytime, anywhere" to discuss peace. Abbas, for his part, refuses to meet for negotiations unless certain "preconditions" are met, namely, that Israel makes concessions before negotiations even begin.

Secretary-General Ban, apparently, still chooses to focus on the "occupation" and "settlements" as the perceived main source of the problem.