[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 12/31 Links Pt1: Israel calls Palestinian actions at UN 'embarrassing'; Behind the UN vote ~ EoZ

From Ian:

UN Security Council rejects unilateral Palestinian statehood bid

The resolution needed nine votes in favor (out of 15) to pass. It fell one vote short, obtaining eight votes in favor (Russia, China, France, Jordan, Chad, Luxembourg, Argentina and Chile), two against (the United States and Australia), and five abstentions (Britain, Rwanda, Nigeria, Lithuania and South Korea). However, even if the resolution had passed, the U.S. would have vetoed it.
Before the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the leaders of three of the nations that ended up abstaining, including Rwanda and Nigeria, and asked them to not vote in favor of the Palestinian resolution.
On Wednesday morning, Netanyahu said, "I want to express appreciation and thanks to the U.S. and Australia, and also special appreciation to the president of Rwanda, my friend Paul Kagame, and the president of Nigeria, my friend Goodluck Jonathan. I spoke with both of them. They personally promised me they would not support this resolution. They stood by their word, and that is what decided this battle. This was very important for the State of Israel."
After Tuesday's vote, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said, "In recent years, no government has invested more in the effort to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace than the United States. Peace, however difficult it may be to forge, is too important to give up on.
"Regrettably, instead of giving voice to the aspirations of both Palestinians and Israelis, this text [the Palestinian resolution] addresses the concerns of only one side. It is deeply imbalanced and contains many elements that are not conducive to negotiations between the parties, including unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel's legitimate security concerns.
"We must proceed responsibly, not take actions that would risk a downward spiral. We voted against this resolution not because we are comfortable with the status quo. We voted against it because we know what everyone here knows as well -- peace will come from hard choices and compromises that must be made at the negotiating table. Today's staged confrontation in the U.N. Security Council will not bring the parties closer to achieving a two-state solution."

Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Palestinians Opposed Abbas's Statehood Bid

The widespread opposition among Palestinians to Abbas's statehood bid at the Security Council is a clear sign that many Palestinians remain opposed to any form of concessions to Israel. It is also an indication of fierce opposition among Palestinians to the resumption of peace talks with Israel.
Those who opposed the Palestinian resolution also argue that Abbas should have gone instead to the International Criminal Court to file "war crimes" charges against Israel. For many Palestinians, punishing Israel should take priority over any peaceful establishment of a Palestinian state.
But the opposition to the resolution, which envisaged a two-state solution, also shows that many Palestinians continue to believe that violence, and not diplomacy, will bring them closer to achieving their goals.
As Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar put it, "This Palestinian resolution is catastrophic and has no future on the land of Palestine. The future belongs to the resistance. We will continue to work to liberate all the land and achieve the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Hamas will not accept anything less than all the lands that were occupied in 1948."

Israel calls Palestinian actions at UN ‘embarrassing’

The Security Council on Tuesday rejected a resolution on Palestinian statehood, with the Palestinians failing to get the minimum nine “yes” votes (required for either adoption by the 15-member council or to prompt a possible veto by one of the five permanent members): Eight voted for the resolution and two voted against, with five abstentions.
“The Palestinians seek — and find — every opportunity to avoid direct negotiations and to walk circumventing paths,” Israel Nitzan of the Israeli mission to the UN said in a short statement. “We’ve become accustomed to their political maneuvers. But today they surpassed themselves by going all the way to the Security Council to make a mockery of it with embarrassing resolutions.
“We have news for the Palestinians – the way to achieve statehood is not paved with provocations,” he said.

Israel's Statement Following the Defeat of the Palestinian Draft Resolution

Dore Gold: The Failed Palestinian Effort at the UN

In substance, the draft resolution also sought to prejudge the outcome of any future negotiations. How can you have a Security Council resolution that decides Israel’s future borders on the basis of the 1967 lines and in the same breath assert that you are going to have a negotiation over borders? What is there left to negotiate? UN Security Council Resolution 242, adopted in the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, did not require Israel to fully withdraw from the territories it captured in a war of self-defense.
It is often forgotten that Resolution 242 was the basis of all Arab-Israeli agreements from the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Treaty of Peace to the 1993 Oslo Declaration of Principles to the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli Treaty of Peace. It was also the basis of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference that launched the peace process. True, the latest draft resolution mentions Resolution 242 in its preamble. But, by demanding a nearly full withdrawal by Israel in its operative section, the draft resolution essentially contradicts 242 in substance.
Finally, the draft resolution that was rejected exposes the strategy adopted by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president. He does not want to negotiate with Israel. Instead, he seeks to use international institutions in order to impose a solution on Israel. That is a course of action that no Israeli government can accept and the international community should not give it any support if it wants to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved.

A stinging defeat for Abbas, but no great victory for Israel

The Palestinians plainly suffered a dramatic reverse. But Israel cannot claim an equally dramatic victory. Mustering the opposition only of the US and Australia — to a motion that was designed to impose terms that Israel has made plain it cannot accept, submitted by a Palestinian leadership that is currently part of a Hamas-backed unity government — hardly suggests widespread international empathy for Israel’s concerns.
Even the abstaining countries made clear that they back many provisions of the Palestinian resolution. The UK, for instance, “supports much of the content of the draft resolution. It is therefore with deep regret that we abstained on it,” London’s ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant said.
Perhaps the smartest way to view the vote is that it underlined ebbing support for Israel’s positions, even as reluctance to endorse an imposed solution narrowly held sway. The message was that the international community is fed up with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, believes a negotiated accord is the best way to solve it, but one way or another wants to see Israel speedily withdraw from the West Bank to enable the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel got some breathing space, nothing more. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has already spoken about going back to the Security Council when its membership is more advantageous.
There had been some speculation that the Palestinians rushed to call the vote before January 1, when the council’s constellation becomes even more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, because they wanted their resolution to fail. Wary of possible American sanctions, the Palestinians sought defeat in order to spare the US the need to veto.

Behind the UN vote: How the Palestinian bid was defeated

Israeli diplomats say that the US played a crucial role in the effort to block the Palestinian resolution which sought to set a time table for Israel's disengagement from territories for a future Palestinian state without direct negotiations.
"The US had a very significant role," said a high-ranking official at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. "Not only were they willing to veto, they also worked side-by-side with Israeli diplomats in order to prevent support for the decision within the Security Council. It's not that they just said they would vote against it. They worked. There were phone calls and messages. The American diplomatic effort is noteworthy."
Apart from the critical help from Washington, the results of the Security Council vote are also a testament of the diplomatic achievements made by the Foreign Ministry headed by Avigdor Lieberman, who marked Africa as a target for diplomatic efforts. The African nations proved themselves loyal during the moment of truth with the support of Rwanda and Nigeria.
Representing the Netanyahu government, Lieberman set out on a trip that began in September of 2009 in which he visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda. In June 2014, Lieberman returned to Africa and visited Rwanda, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
Visits of by an Israeli diplomat of this stature to Africa have not been seen since the days of Golda Meir as foreign minister. During her tenure, Israel had 27 representatives in Africa compared to the 10 that exist today. The wide-ranging investments Israel has made in African aid, along with the Israeli business that operate in the continent, proved to be very worthwhile.

The Palestinians’ failed UN bid: Good news for Likud MKs

It was unclear until the last minute whether the draft — which read more like a Palestinian wishlist than a serious proposal to reach an agreement — would garner the requisite nine yes votes. But even if it had, the Palestinians knew that the Americans would, if need be, use their veto.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sought a showdown at the Security Council regardless. Facing pressure from Hamas and other rivals within Palestinian society, he evidently felt he needed to do something to prove to his nation that he knows how to pressure Israel.
The Palestinians had threatened repeatedly that were their resolution to be thrown out, they would apply for membership in the International Criminal Court and accuse Israel of crimes against humanity. Indeed, as soon as the Security Council vote ended, Palestinian officials started vowing revenge at the ICC, with senior sources saying they would consider signing the Rome Statute by Wednesday evening.
We shall see. Given the months of hesitation and back-and-forth surrounding the Security Council gambit, such speed would be a departure. And there are risks for the Palestinians in the ICC route too.

'UN Security Council Has Reached a New Low with PA Bid'

ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman released a statement saying PA chairperson Mahmoud Abbas "continues to play a dangerously negative political game with the future of the Palestinian people."
"By attempting to impose an international solution in order to circumvent direct talks with Israel, Abbas continues to demonstrate his unwillingness to engage in direct and sincere negotiations with Israel over a two-state solution," said Foxman. "With the introduction of this resolution, the UN Security Council has reached a new low."
Detailing the vote, Foxman continued "we welcome the strong leadership of the United States joined by Australia in voting 'no.' Their 'no' votes combined with the five abstentions averted an outcome which would have been shameful."

The UN’s Latest Anti-Israel Resolution: Oh the Hypocrisy!

So who supported the resolution? The countries of Jordan, France, China, Russia, Luxembourg, Chad, Chile and Argentina. Jordan’s delegation was the one that brought the resolution to the floor of the Security Council. How hypocritical can you get? This is the regime led by the Hashemite dynasty that rules over territory that was once part of the former British mandate of Palestine and that was intended to be the homeland of the Holy Land’s Arab population. But instead, the British handed it to the Hashemites, whose origins are in what is now Saudi Arabia rather than the Holy Land itself. How this tyrannical regime can accuse Israel of illegally occupying Palestinian land when it is the real occupier of Palestinian territory defies any sense of logic. But unfortunately, this hypocrisy didn’t stop seven other countries from voting for the Hashemite-sponsored resolution.
In fact, several of the other seven states that supported the resolution are just as guilty of hypocrisy as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Israel’s presence in the West Bank is in no way illegitimate. The West Bank, more accurately called Judea and Samaria, is part of the Biblical homeland of the Jewish people, and since Israel is the embodiment of Jewish independence, it has every right to this territory. But let’s just say for the sake of argument that Israel’s presence in the West Bank was illegitimate and that there was actually an illegal occupation taking place. Even if this were all true, the governments of countries like France, Russia and China are in no position to condemn Israel because they themselves are perpetrators of illegal occupations. Perhaps someone should put forward a resolution at the U.N. Security Council setting a deadline for France to end its illegal occupation of Brittany, Occitania, Corsica, and Polynesia, which are just some of the territories that were unlawfully conquered by the French. How about a resolution setting a deadline for China to end its illegal occupation of Inner Mongolia, East Turkestan (in northwest China), Manchuria, and Tibet? We can top off the list with a resolution calling on Russia to end its illegal occupation of – well, over half of the land mass that it now controls – in two years or less. Of course, none of these resolutions would ever come to the floor of the Security Council, let alone be supported by anyone – unless perhaps it was Jews that occupied the aforementioned territories instead of French, Chinese or Russians. Oh, the hypocrisy!

EU Calls for Peace Talks After PA Fails at UN

In a sign of EU divisions, France and Luxembourg voted for the resolution, but Britain abstained as the measure fell one vote short of winning the nine "yes" votes necessary for adoption by the 15-member council.
Mogherini said, however, all sides still want to build a comprehensive peace agreement based on two states "living side by side in peace and security and mutual recognition."
She added, "The European Union believes that setting clear parameters for the negotiations is key for their success."
Mogherini said these should "be defined on the basis" of land-for-peace UN resolutions that were reinforced by the Madrid peace process, launched in 1991, along with later diplomatic efforts.
"The EU renews its call for both parties to resume negotiations urgently and to refrain from any action further undermining the viability of the two-state solution," Mogherini said, according to AFP.
"The European Union will promote and support now more than ever efforts to achieve a lasting peace based on this two-state vision together with international partners, including in the region," she stressed.

Erekat: Palestinian leadership to meet on ICC membership push after failed UN bid

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat vowed on Wednesday that the Palestinians would return to the United Nations Security Council after the body rejected a draft resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines within two years.
Erekat stated that meanwhile, the Palestinian leadership would meet to advance other plans for Palestinian statehood recognition in international bodies, including setting a date to seek official membership at the International Criminal Court.
The Palestinian Authority has said that it would seek to accuse Israel of war crimes before the ICC if it becomes a member.
Palestinian media cited Erekat as condemning the rejection of the UN resolution as "a blow to international law."

PLO: 'Outrageously Shameful' Vote Against PA UN Bid

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist organization behind the Palestinian Authority (PA) complained loudly on Wednesday, after the unilateral PA bid demanding statehood and Israeli withdrawals was shot down in a vote at the UN Security Council.
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi said "the UN Security Council vote is outrageously shameful," reports AFP. The unilateral PA move is a breach of the 1993 Oslo Accords the PLO signed onto.
Referring to the five countries who abstained - Britain, Lithuania, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Korea - she added "those countries that abstained demonstrated a lack of political will to hold Israel accountable and to act in accordance with the global rule of law and international humanitarian law."

Hamas blasts Abbas over unsuccessful UN bid

The Gaza-based Hamas movement denounced Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday for what it termed his “failure” to push through a UN statehood resolution that called for a Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines within three years.
“This was a unilateral decision taken by Abu Mazen [Abbas] who has taken the Palestinian decision-making process hostage,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told AFP, describing it as a “new failure” by the Palestinian leader.

Russia 'Regrets' That PA's Unilateral UN Bid Failed

Russia expressed regret at the failure of the Palestinian Authority (PA) resolution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, describing it as a "strategic error."
"Russia regrets that the UN Security Council did not manage to adopt the draft resolution," Russia's envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said after the vote late on Tuesday.
"We consider this a strategic error," he told the council in footage broadcast by the Rossiya 24 state news channel.

Voice of America Wrong on American Veto

Voice of American incorrectly reports in the lead of its article on the failed Palestinian statehood bid in the United Nations:
"The United States has vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Palestinian statehood that demanded Israel withdraw from the occupied territories."
Likewise, the VOA headline incorrectly states that the U.S. vetoed the Palestinian resolution:

'Israel Must Take Off the Kid Gloves With the PA'

The response to the move, according to Akunis, is that "we need to apply sovereignty on Judea and Samaria. Their unilateral move needs to be hit by a clear response - applying sovereignty and pushing settlement."
PA chairperson Mahmoud Abbas now reportedly is determined to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) to sue Israel for "war crimes," to which Akunis says "we have to take off the kid gloves."
"From the other side there's an attempt to goad Israel by all means. The world rejected this process and it's possible to convince other sources to reject the Palestinians on all fronts," said Akunis. "The Western world is sobering up and understands that there's no partner on the other side."
While the world might be starting to understand there is no partner, Akunis said he is relatively certain Hatnua chairperson Tzipi Livni doesn't understand that. She recently joined with Labor to form a list that polls estimate could get roughly as many seats as Likud.
"I don't trust her. She will never admit to her failure (in peace talks). She said that we need to sit in a room and talk even when she knew that it was impossible. There's no peace partner on the other side," said the deputy minister.

Fatah maps and imagery anticipate a world without Israel

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of "the Launch" (Intilaqa) of the Fatah movement in 1965 when the organization carried out its first terror attack against Israel, Fatah has posted on its Facebook page numerous maps and logos that completely erase the existence of Israel.
Central to the visual images is the map of "Palestine," used by both the Palestinian Authority and Fatah, which includes both the PA areas and all of Israel, thus denying Israel's existence in any borders.

IDF court convicts Hamas mastermind in June kidnap, murder of 3 Israeli teens

The IDF military court on Wednesday convicted Hussam Hassan Kawasme of being the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in June.
Kawasme was convicted based on his own confession of planning and financing the attack.
The Ofer Military Court indicted Kawasame in September.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested him on July 11, on suspicion of assisting the killers and of hiding the victims’ bodies in land he owned in Hebron, security forces said.
On June 12, Hamas members kidnapped Gil-Ad Sha’er, 16, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19, as they waited for a ride outside the Alon Shvut settlement in Judea. The Shin Bet named the two chief suspects as Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aisha.
The two chief suspects were killed in a shootout with the IDF near Hebron in September.

Aljazeera.net Article In Praise Of Stabbings, Vehicular Attacks And Other Forms Of Resistance: Israel Can Manufacture Advanced Missile Systems, But Cannot Protect Its Citizens From Knife Attacks

Dr. 'Adnan Abu 'Amer, a Palestinian journalist and Gazan university lecturer, recently devoted his regular column on Aljazirah.net to the November 18, 2014 attack on the Jerusalem synagogue and to other recent attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Abu 'Amer praised the "creativity" of the Palestinian attackers who, he said, have begun using simple weapons like knives and stones that are readily available everywhere. Such weapons, he added, are particularly effective because they can be used by a lone attacker, and the Israeli security apparatuses are unable to stop this attacker before he strikes. According to Abu 'Amer, the rise in stabbing attacks attests to a growing spirit of self-sacrifice in Palestinian society.

Rivlin holds bar mitzvah celebration for terror survivors

President Reuven Rivlin held a bar/bat mitzvah celebration for children who were survivors of terrorist attacks.
Some 50 children attended the celebration on Monday, including three orphans. Also participating in the program were children who lost siblings in terror attacks.
The children began the day with a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and ended it with a ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, where Rivlin congratulated them “on reaching the age of mitzvot.”
“Even at the most happy of occasions we do not forget our loved ones, the father, mother, brother or sister, who aren’t able to celebrate with us here today,” Rivlin said. “There is a price to our being Jewish, to our independence, sometimes the price is too high, and almost always the price we pay is unbearable. An unbearable price that each one of you knows firsthand, but there is also a lot of power and strength which should be remembered.”

A Month After Joining IDF, Christian Arab Pastor’s Son Recounts Beating, Cries of ‘Traitor’

Despite being attacked because of his father’s support for IDF recruitment among Arab Christians, the son of Father Gabriel Nadaf says a month into basic training that “I’m not afraid,” Israel’s Channel 2 News reported on Tuesday.
“I did not have to enlist, I volunteered for the army because I live in this country and I want to contribute. For years I knew what I wanted to do,” he said.
And not only that. 18-year-old Jubran Nadaf, who recently completed a basic training course for radio technicians and will soon begin his duties, hopes to continue on to officer training later in his service.
A year ago, a 21-year-old Arab Nazareth resident was arrested on suspicion of attacking Jubran with an iron bar, and his father reports being regularly threatened.
“They told me I was a traitor and beat me,” Jubran said of the ordeal, which required a three-day hospitalization for his injuries.

Police Chief Awards Elite 'Arab' Undercover Unit

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino on Tuesday visited a base in the Judea and Samaria region of the Border Patrol's special mista'aravim unit, an elite squad of undercover forces disguising themselves as Arabs to covertly stop terror.
In the course of his visit, Danino presented commanders of the unit with the Police Commissioner's Shield of Excellence award for the unit's impressive accomplishments over the years.
This is the second recognition Danino has given the unit recently; during Hanukkah in a visit with President Reuven Rivlin to a base in Judea, he awarded two mista'aravim soldiers a decoration for outstanding performance in a recent arrest of a terrorist while showing bravery despite the high risk to their lives.

Drill at Negev Back-up Airport for Hamas Rockets

In response to the incessant Hamas rocket barrage during Operation Protective Edge that led international airlines to impose a temporary flight ban on Ben-Gurion International Airport in mid-July, Israel concluded a drill on Tuesday to have an alternate airport in the southern Negev for just such instances.
Ben-Gurion decided to hold a drill of closing the airport and operating instead the IAF's Ovda Military Airport located 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat in the Negev, which indeed was used during the flight ban.
In the drill which began earlier in the week and concluded on Tuesday, various airlines, the police, the Interior Ministry, ground services companies and all units of the Airports Authority took part, reports Walla!.

Hannibal Directive: Exclusive tapes reveal details of IDF's Black Friday

Take a look inside the IDF's Hannibal Directive and the events leading up the capture and death of Givati Battalion Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, one of the IDF's heros during Israel's 50 day war with Hamas. Ynet has obtained footage which has never before been or seen heard of the events of August 1st, which has become known as Black Friday.
Four months after Sec.-Lt. Hadar Goldin was captured (and later killed) during Operation Protective Edge, and only days ahead of the Chief Military Prosecutor's decision on whether to launch a criminal investigation into the conduct of the IDF officers who led the pursuit after the captive soldier in Rafah, audio recordings from the IDF's communication system obtained by Ynet shed light on the dramatic moments of that fateful Friday morning.
The recordings shed light into a dramatic event in which Sec.-Lt. Goldin was captured by Hamas operatives and taken into a Hamas tunnel after a fire fight broke out between IDF tropps and Hamas cell operatives as the IDF was patrolling the area for terror tunnels.

IDF: Leaked recordings from Gaza rescue mission are incomplete

The Israel Defense Forces Military Police has launched an investigation to determine who was behind the leak of radio communications from the ill-fated attempt to rescue Lt. Hadar Goldin during Operation Protective Edge.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said Tuesday that the "after-action review of the incident has yet to be completed, rendering any analysis conducted on the basis of such recordings incomplete, irresponsible and inaccurate in a way that departs from the debriefing material currently being processed. We regard this matter [the leak] as a serious breach."
The IDF said it was unfortunate that such recordings were aired because they could hurt the families of those who died in the incident.

Amulet urging 'Slaughter the Jews' stolen from art exhibit

An amulet bearing the Arabic expression "Itbah al-yahud" ("Slaughter the Jews") in Hebrew letters has been stolen from a controversial art exhibition at Sapir Academic College in Sderot.
The exhibition, called "The Power of the Word," is curated by Liav Mizrahi and includes three hamsas, hand-shaped amulets popular throughout the Middle East, created by artist Gad Wellnitz and decorated with the words "ISIS," "Slaughter the Jews," and "In blood and fire we will redeem Palestine."
Dvir Kali, a former member of the IDF's elite Shayetet naval commando unit and a student at the college, has taken responsibility for the theft of the hamsa. In a Facebook status update, Kali wrote that he took the amulet off the wall and "ripped it into little pieces."

Honor Killings in Gaza

Honor killings have a sad history throughout the Muslim world. Many families deliberately and systematically kill wives and daughters if there is any suspicion of the women bringing “dishonor” to the family. The cause of such shame may come from actual or feared adultery, refusal to marry a designated spouse, or even dressing inappropriately. The cultural rationale for the honor killings is that by murdering the offending women, honor is restored to the families.
Gaza and the West Bank are similar to other parts of the Muslim world regarding the reasons for honor killings. However, the recent spike in the number of killings in the territories has been very dramatic and atypical. In 2011, there were five such murders in the territories. The number of homicides jumped to 13 in 2012, and doubled again to 27 in 2013. In just the first two months of 2014, 8 honor killings were reported by Palestinian media sources, a pace that would have put it on course for nearly doubling again.
By comparison, in Afghanistan an estimated 150 women are killed each year in honor killings. Afghanistan has over eight times the population of Gaza and West Bank, and 18 times Gaza alone. Therefore, on a proportionate basis, the Palestinians now kill twice as many women in honor killings as Afghanistan (or over three times as many if one only counts Gaza where most of the murders take place).

Top German MP: Merkel should condemn Turkey for hosting Hamas official

The presence of top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal at a conference of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party prompted German Green party politician Volker Beck on Tuesday to slam the Merkel administration for failing to criticize Turkey for hosting a Hamas representative.
Beck, a leading Green Party deputy in the Bundestag and human rights expert, initially tweeted to Merkel administration spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday: “@RegSprecher a Turkey that sees itself as a partner of Hamas is not a partner of D [Germany] or the EU.”
Beck microblogged the tweet to his more than 53,000 followers.
In response to a Jerusalem Post query about Beck’s Tweet, a spokesman for the Merkel administration wrote on Tuesday, “The Federal government took notice of the corresponding media reports. The position of the Federal government to Hamas is sufficiently known.”