NEW YORK – Speaking before a group of foreign ambassadors to the United Nations on one of his final days in office, President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to “forget about the past” and get on with Israel. Issued a petition to work. get peace.
“We are not doomed to be together, we are destined to be together. It is our role to end the conflict,” Rivlin said in a speech at the end of his farewell tour in the United States. “Let’s Past Forget about it. Let’s build confidence. Our people have opportunities to achieve bright future.”
Referring to Abbas as “my cousin”, Rivlin sought to explain the Jewish people’s thousands-year-old relationship with Jerusalem and the centuries-old Jewish desire to return to the Holy Land, while recognizing that “there is [were] The people who live there.”
“We returned home as everyone told us,” Rivlin said, referring to the nations where Jews lived before the establishment of the State of Israel. “Israel will exist as a Jewish state forever, as long as it remains a democratic state.”
Twenty-one foreign ambassadors to the United Nations joined Rivlin and Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erden at the Safra Center in New York for a luncheon in honor of the president. The nations represented were the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Austria, Albania, Hungary, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Morocco, Bahrain, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Bhutan, Australia and Australia. Bulgaria.
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The Chinese mission, whose ambassador has been heavily critical of Israel during last month’s Gaza war, initially accepted the invitation, but withdrew before Tuesday’s incident.
Before lunch, Rivlin met with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations and spoke against resolutions and commissions of inquiry against Israel at the international body.
President Reuven Rivlin meets with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations on June 29, 2021. (ham zach)
Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to create an open international investigation into Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. In March, the same body passed a series of resolutions against the Jewish state, which Jerusalem called in response, “obsessive, partisan and anti-Israel.”
“Our region in the Middle East needs to build trust among people. Peace between Israel and Palestinians will never be achieved through anti-Israel decisions or commissions of inquiry,” Rivlin told Guterres, according to a statement from his office. Said during his meeting with. “The prejudice against Israel in UN institutions must stop.”
“We are interested in continuing to work with the United Nations to meet the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza, with whom we have no conflict,” Rivlin said.
President Reuven Rivlin addresses a group of United Nations ambassadors in New York on June 29, 2021. (Ham Zach/GPO)
“However, any arrangement must include the return of our captive soldiers and civilians that are organized by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the president said, referring to fallen soldiers Haider Goldin and Oron Shawl and civilians Abera Mengistu and Hisham al-Saeed. Said happened.
Rivlin is joined at the United Nations meeting by Goldin’s mother, Leah, who urges Guterres to use her position to ensure her son’s body is returned for burial.
on Monday, two Western diplomats told The Times of Israel that the Biden administration opposes Israel’s willingness to status post-war reconstruction projects in Gaza over the return of bodies of fallen IDF soldiers held by Hamas.
(from lr) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Leah Goldin, Ambassador to the United Nations Gilead Arden and President Reuven Rivlin at the United Nations on June 29, 2021. (ham zach)
The diplomat said the US is concerned that the breakdown of talks in Cairo to achieve a long-term ceasefire in Gaza will lead to renewed violence – something the Biden administration wants to avoid, to focus on other foreign policy issues, the diplomat said. he said.
Goldin also met with senior US officials while accompanying Rivlin on his trip and told Channel 12 on Tuesday that he urged them to seize the “window of opportunity” as the sides enter post-war talks. , to demand that Hamas comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2474, mandating the return of missing persons after armed conflict.
At a luncheon with foreign ambassadors, Rivlin asked Goldin to stand before diplomats, and urged attendees to “join us in the political effort. [our boys] House. Help us end this ongoing nightmare.”
In his respective address, Arden referred to the United Nations as “somewhat an enigma”.
“On the one hand, the institution includes many countries with which we have very close bilateral relations, the countries that you represent,” he said. “On the other hand, it is undeniable that there is a strong prejudice against Israel at the United Nations, and that anti-Semitism has infected many UN bodies.”
Erden lamented that many anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations are passed with the help of countries that “choose to ignore our strong bilateral ties.”
Rivlin arrives to meet w/ 21 UN ambassadors. Notable attendees include envoys from the US, Russia, Morocco, Bahrain. China, which criticized Israel especially during the Gaza War, initially yes after RSVPing pic.twitter.com/oTRG43yu2M
— Jacob Magid (@JacobMagid) June 29, 2021
Rivlin and Erdan both raised Israel’s concerns over Iran’s attempt to obtain a nuclear weapon, as well as shared their pride about their countries normalizing deals with five Arab countries last year alone.
Seeing the opportunity to address the gathering, Morocco’s ambassador to the United Nations Omar Hilale said he was proud of his country’s decision to normalize relations with Israel last December.
“There is an opportunity to move forward, to foster dialogue, to maintain security. We have no option but peace,” he said.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she was “proud to stand up for Israel, as many of us today have faced unilateral action.” [against the Jewish state]”
He noted the presence of envoys from Arab countries and expressed the hope that the extension of the Abrahamic Agreement would “bring progress towards a negotiated agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians.”
Ambassador Thomas Greenfield congratulated Rivlin “You uphold democratic values, the same values we cherish in the United States”. pic.twitter.com/SCON364bEz
— Tal Schneider Tal Schneider ال نايدر (@talschneider) June 29, 2021
Rivlin was in the US as part of a farewell tour, where he met US President Joe Biden and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday. He ends his seven-year term next week, to be replaced by Isaac Herzog.