Ambassador Shalev upset
Photo: Shahar Azran
'Why did he embrace Ahmadinejad?'
Israel's UN envoy upset at General Assembly president's speech, Ahmadinejad hug
NEW YORK – Israel's new United Nations Ambassador, Professor Gabriella Shalev, is fuming. In a talk with Ynet, Shalev blasted UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, who hugged Iranian President Ahmadinejad following his anti-Semitic speech.
Brockmann himself delivered an anti-American speech and also harshly criticized Israel.
"To my deep regret, in my first session representing Israel I was forced to hear d'Escoto and I found it hard to believe what I was hearing," she said. "In his speech, d'Escoto declared war on the United States and World Bank, and also dedicated a whole paragraph to Israel, saying that the UN's great failure is the fact that a Palestinian State was not established in 1947, as part of the partition plan."
"The man is known for his dislike for Israel, to put it mildly, and those who heard the speech could think that Israel is the most important country in the world, as if there are no other problems or hotbeds of terrorism in the world," Shalev said.
Israel's ambassador is also upset at d'Escoto's warm embrace of President Ahmadinejad.
"I heard that the Iranian president's address was followed by loud applause, and that d'Escoto warmly embraced him," she said. "He was also expected to join a dinner with Arab leaders to mark the end of Ramadan, with Ahmadinejad also in attendance."
Father D'Escoto's spokesman, Enrique Yeves, confirmed to ynet that the president of the General Assembly will take part in the dinner with Ahmedinejad. In reaction to Shalev's criticism said Yeves:
"Father D'Escoto is the president of the UN General assembly and as such, he deals with all member
states of the U.N. He cannot respond to each and every speech made by the leaders of these states. He will join the dinner because he believes in dialogue, an issue which he had highlighted, and thinks that he should deal with all member states".
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann has been serving as the General Assembly president since September 16th. He served as Nicaragua's foreign minister for more than a decade he is known for his critical positions vis-à-vis the US.
