Bolton is Israel's secret weapon, says Gillerman

Calcutta News.Net
Saturday 18th November, 2006

After a staunch defence of Israel on Friday night in the UN General Assembly, John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, has been described by his Israeli counterpart as, "Israel's secret weapon."

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman praised Bolton at a New York Jewish assembly, according to a report carried by Arutz Sheva, an online news network operating in Israel.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton is Israel's secret weapon in the international body, Gillerman is quoted as saying.

According to Arutz Sheva, Gillerman told the Jewish assembly the Israeli delegation to the United Nations is not five people as most believe, but six, including Bolton, who is the Israeli government's secret weapon.

Bolton launched a scathing attack on the United Nations on Friday night following the passing of a resolution which expressed regret at the killing of 19 Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military last week at Beit Hanoun, and called for a fact-finding mission to investigate the incident.

"Many of the sponsors of that resolution are notorious abusers of human rights themselves, and were seeking to deflect criticism of their own policies," he told the UN General Assembly.

"This type of resolution serves only to exacerbate tensions by serving the interests of elements hostile to Israel's inalienable and recognized right to exist," he added.

"This deepens suspicions about the United Nations that will lead many to conclude that the organization is incapable of playing a helpful role in the region," Bolton continued.

"In a larger sense, the United Nations must confront a more significant question, that of its relevance and utility in confronting the challenges of the 21st century. We believe that the United Nations is ill served when its members seek to transform the organization into a forum that is a little more than a self-serving and a polemical attack against Israel or the United States," he said.

"The Human Rights Council has quickly fallen into the same trap and de-legitimized itself by focusing attention exclusively on Israel. Meanwhile, it has failed to address real human rights abuses in Burma, Darfur, the DPRK, and other countries," Bolton added.

"The problem of anti-Israel bias is not unique to the Human Rights Council. It is endemic to the culture of the United Nations. It is a decades-old, systematic problem that transcends the whole panoply of the UN organizations and agencies," he continued.

Gillerman was just as furious as Bolton. He stormed out of the meeting after telling members if they voted for the resolution, "you will be an accomplice to terror. The blood of more innocents will be on your hands."

156 countries voted for the resolution, while seven countries opposed it (Australia, United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau. 6 nations abstained.
All of Europe, including Britain voted for the resolution.

Any probe by the UN into the events of Beit Hanoun will require the co-operation of Israel, which may not be forthcoming, according to a statement by Gillerman Saturday night. "I don't think we should cooperate with the committee and my recommendation to the prime minister and the foreign minister is to ignore it," he said.

Have your say on this story