‘’The UN has decided to come and check Israel – the only democracy in the Middle East, a democracy which is acting legitimately to defend its citizens against murderous terrorism,’’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference after a meeting in Jerusalem with visiting New York Governor Andrew M.Cuomo.
He was referring to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which has announced that Prof. William Schabas, a Canadian international law expert and lecturer at Middlesex University will head an international commission of inquiry over Operation Protective Edge. Schabas is regarded as an outspoken critic of Israel.
The UNHRC has a track record of hostility towards Israel.
"The UN Human Rights Council gives legitimacy to murderous terrorist organizations such as Hamas and ISIS. Instead of inquiring into Hamas's attacks on Israeli civilians and its use of the residents of Gaza as human shields and instead of inquiring into the massacres that Assad is perpetrating against the Syrian people or that ISIS is perpetrating against the Kurds, the UN has decided to come and check Israel – the only democracy in the Middle East, a democracy which is acting legitimately to defend its citizens against murderous terrorism,’’ Netanyhu said.
‘’The report of this committee has already been written. The committee chairman has already decided that Hamas is not a terrorist organization; therefore, they have nothing to look for here. They should visit Damascus, Baghdad and Tripoli; they should go see ISIS, the Syrian army and Hamas – there they will find war crimes, not here."
"Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, Prime Minister, it's our pleasure. We know that you're going through a very difficult time right now and Israel is going through a very difficult time. And that is precisely why
Gov. Cuomo, who is in Israel in a solidarity trip, accompanied by a bipartisan delegation, said : ‘’We are here because we want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel, we want to stand in solidarity with you.’’ ‘’We understand the situation you're in, we understand what you are facing and we support your right, your leave to defend your people against terror,’’ he added.
He added : ‘’The United States has always been a strong ally of Israel on many, many levels. As New Yorkers, we have many connections, family connections, cultural connections, historic connections, so our relations go very deep. And I speak for all New Yorkers when I say: We stand in solidarity with Israel. The fight that you fight is the fight against terror. Unfortunately in New York, we've had a rude awakening to the pain and suffering that terror can cause in 9/11. So we have a special sensitivity in our hearts for what you're going through now.’’