Israeli envoy warns on eve of International Holocaust Day that ‘the world is ignoring regime following in footsteps of the Nazis’
It is time for “an institution charged with safeguarding peace and security to begin addressing the gravest danger in the Middle East: the regime in Tehran,” Israel’s Ambassador to the US and to the United Nations (UN) Gilad Erdan told the UN’s Security Council.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan, in his first address to the Security Council, Oct. 26, 2020. Source: Facebook/Gilad Erdan
“Tomorrow, here at the UN and around the world, we will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and mourn the unfathomable murder of six million Jews. 76 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, there is another genocidal regime epitomizing the very words and actions of the Nazis,” Erdan told the UNSC on Tuesday.
“Iran does not try to hide its intention of destroying the world’s only Jewish state. Spreading antisemitism, denying the Holocaust and even proposing legislation calling for Israel’s destruction by the year 2041. How is it possible that the Iranian Parliament proposing to annihilate a member state is not at the top of this council’s agenda?” he said.
In his remarks, Erdan warned against a return to the nuclear agreement with Iran, as the Biden administration plans, and called on the council to take action against Iran’s violations.
He highlighted that the reality in 2021 was different to the reality of 2015.
“What we all know today about Iran is not what the international community knew when it signed the nuclear deal with Iran. Now we know, contrary to the signatories premise, Iran did not use the removal of sanctions to improve the lives of its citizens but doubled down instead on its malign activities. Rather than using the dividends of the nuclear agreement to build schools and hospitals, it built an arsenal of missiles. Rather than using its resources to fight COVID-19, it wasted them on funding terrorist proxies and undermining peace and security. Iran deceived the world when it signed the agreement and it continues to deceive the world today,” Erdan said.
He cautioned that “returning to the JCPOA and giving up that leverage, even if intended to lay the groundwork for a future agreement, would be a mistake. Once sanctions are lifted and Iran’s economy begins to improve, it will have no reason to negotiate. Once back in the JCPOA, all Iran has to do is wait for the restrictions to expire automatically in less than a decade.”
Altho8igh seemingly at odds with the Biden administration vis-à-vis the return to the deal with Iran, Erdan thanked the newly inaugurated administration for its stated commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities, and stated Israel will work with the US to achieve that goal.
Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden’s selection as secretary of state, told the Senate earlier this month the Biden administration would consult with Israel and Arab allies in the Middle East before returning to the deal with Iran.
“It’s vitally important that we engage on the takeoff, not the landing with our allies and partners in the region, to include Israel and to include the Gulf countries,” he said, underscoring that a new agreement would address Iran’s “destabilizing activities” in the region, its promotion and support of terrorism, as well as its ballistic missile threat.
“Having said that, I think we’re a long way from there,” Blinken said.
Erdan also referred to Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas’ declared desire to convene an international peace conference, stating that “if President Abbas was truly serious about peace he would stop inciting violence. He would not be bending over backwards to find new ways to continue his pay for slay policy, including by trying to establish a new bank to transfer funds to terrorists. He would come to the negotiating table without making outrageous demands and not call for another pointless international conference.”
Erdan also referred to the Palestinian lies about Israel’s alleged refusal to distribute COVID-19 vaccines in the PA, calling them a “blood libel” and that those who use this rhetoric “are driven by political or antisemitic considerations.”
The 1994 Oslo Accords explicitly state that the PA is responsible for all health issues pertaining to its residents.
Tuesday’s session came at the directive of Tunisia, which is serving as president of the Security Council for January.
It included ministerial-level representation, with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, and foreign ministers of Tunisia, Ireland and others delivering statements.
