Deputy Minister Michael Oren
Photo: Avi Mualem
Deputy minister exchanges condemnations with French envoy
In Twitter exchange, Michael Oren slams France for supporting UN resolution on 'international protection' for Palestinians, while French Ambassador to Israel Hélène Le Gal hit back, 'Shame on you Oren. You didn't read the resolution.'
Deputy Minister Michael Oren got into an exchange of condemnations on Twitter with the French ambassador on Saturday after France voted in favor
of a Kuwait-proposed resolution draft on "international protection" for the Palestinian people.
"Praise for the US for vetoing Security Council resolution on Gaza that didn’t mention Hamas and condemned the IDF for defending Israel. Shame on France for supporting it. French government cannot say it's against anti-Semitism and vote for this anti-Semitic resolution," Oren wrote on Twitter.
Hélène Le Gal, France's Ambassador to Israel, responded harshly. "Shame on you M. Oren for insulting France on the eve of the visit of your Prime Minister to Paris. You didn't read the resolution. It was not perfect but condemned all the violence against Israel. France is adamantly supporting Israel's security," she wrote.
Deputy Minister Michael Oren (Photo: Avi Moalem)
The Kuwaiti draft resolution, which was vetoed by the US, expressed "grave concern" at the increased violence and deteriorating situation in the Palestinian territories and called for urgent steps to ensure a "durable and fully respected ceasefire."
It asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a written report within 60 days on ways to ensure "the safety, protection and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population under Israeli occupation," including recommendations about "an international protection mechanism." The measure also urges humanitarian access and seeks "tangible steps" toward reconciliation between different Palestinian factions.
France, Russia, China, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Peru, Sweden, and Equatorial Guinea joined Kuwait in voting in favor, while only the United States voted against. Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and Ethiopia abstained.
A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, Russia or China to be adopted.
UN Security Council meets on Gaza (Photo: Reuters)
US Ambassador Nikki Haley called the resolution "grossly one-sided" for demanding that the IDF halt "the use of any excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force" while not mentioning Hamas, the terrorist group that controls Gaza.
"This resolution is wildly inaccurate in its characterization of recent events in Gaza" and "would harm any efforts toward peace," she said.
An alternative US resolution deleted the reference to Israeli force and protecting Palestinians. Instead, it demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups stop "all violent activity and provocative actions" in Gaza.
That resolution failed to pass. Only the United States voted in favor of the second draft resolution, while there were three negative votes and 10 abstentions.
