Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan demanded that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres resign after Guterres claimed that Hamas' massacre of over 1,400 Israelis "did not happen in a vacuum."
"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 terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words," Erdan said.
Earlier, Erdan said: "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. His statement that, “the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder. 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!"
In a speech at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the Hamas war today (Tuesday), Guterres claimed that "it is important to also recognize the attack 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 steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence, their economies stifled, their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing."
In response to Guterres' speech, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced that he is boycotting the UN Secretary-General and will refuse to meet with him.