Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, visiting in New York, stood up to UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan's condemnation of the killing of Hamas murderer Sheikh Yassin.
Shalom met with Anan at the United Nations last night, and Anan criticized Israel for killing the arch-terrorist. "Violence won't help solve the problem," Anan finger-wagged, adding that he was concerned about the "ramifications." Minister Shalom said, "Israel is not the one who has to sit on the bench of the accused. People like Sheikh Yassin and others who incite and destroy every chance for an agreement should be accused. I'm tired of receiving words of condolences from international figures after every attack against Israel. Real action against the terrorists has to be taken." He said that the UN should be dealing with how to stop terrorism, and asked Anan to call a session on the topic.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights voted yesterday to condemn Israel's elimination of Yassin and other cases of "targeted assassination, liquidation and murder of political leadership" by a 31-2 vote. Only the United States and Australia voted against, and 18 countries, including those of the European Union, abstained. A similar resolution is on the table in the Security Council, but it is not expected to pass, because of U.S. objections.
"Not one resolution, not one presidential statement has been adopted by this Council to specifically denounce the deliberate massacre of our innocent civilians," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Gillerman told the UN General Council during yesterday's debate. "[Your] coming to the defense of a godfather of terrorism [Sheikh Yassin] is the ultimate hypocrisy," he said.
Shalom met with Anan at the United Nations last night, and Anan criticized Israel for killing the arch-terrorist. "Violence won't help solve the problem," Anan finger-wagged, adding that he was concerned about the "ramifications." Minister Shalom said, "Israel is not the one who has to sit on the bench of the accused. People like Sheikh Yassin and others who incite and destroy every chance for an agreement should be accused. I'm tired of receiving words of condolences from international figures after every attack against Israel. Real action against the terrorists has to be taken." He said that the UN should be dealing with how to stop terrorism, and asked Anan to call a session on the topic.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights voted yesterday to condemn Israel's elimination of Yassin and other cases of "targeted assassination, liquidation and murder of political leadership" by a 31-2 vote. Only the United States and Australia voted against, and 18 countries, including those of the European Union, abstained. A similar resolution is on the table in the Security Council, but it is not expected to pass, because of U.S. objections.
"Not one resolution, not one presidential statement has been adopted by this Council to specifically denounce the deliberate massacre of our innocent civilians," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Gillerman told the UN General Council during yesterday's debate. "[Your] coming to the defense of a godfather of terrorism [Sheikh Yassin] is the ultimate hypocrisy," he said.