JERUSALEM: Israeli officials were outraged Wednesday over UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ comment that the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel “did not happen in a vacuum,” calling it justification for terrorism. Foreign minister Eli Cohen cancelled a scheduled meeting with Guterres while Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, said the UN chief “failed the test.”
“I will not meet with the UN secretary-general.After the October 7 massacre, there is no place for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased off the face of the planet!” Cohen posted Tuesday on X. Israel’s envoy to the UN Gilad Erdan called for his resignation, saying Israel must rethink its relations with the world body. “We’ll refuse to grant visas to UN representatives, accusing Guterres of justifying a slaughter. “It’s time to teach them a lesson.”
On Tuesday, Guterres addressed a special security council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war and said he “condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel.” “Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets,” he said. On Wednesday, he clarified saying, “I am shocked by the misrepresentations by some of my statement … as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas. This is false. It was the opposite,” he said, without naming Israel.