DFM Ayalon expresses formal protest to United Nations Under-Secretary-General

17 May 2011 "Those from enemy countries who breach our borders while using violence and calling for Israel's destruction, cannot be considered innocent, but an immediate and present danger to the citizens of Israel.       MFA archive photo

(Communicated by the Deputy Foreign Minister's Bureau) Today (Tuesday, 17th May 2011), Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon met Valerie Amos, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and Kristalina Georgieva, Euroepan Union Commissioner for International Co-operation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. During the meeting Ayalon expressed a formal protest against the United Nations Under-Secretary-General after she called those who violently breached Israel's borders and rioted as "innocent". DFM Ayalon said that the denunciation reveals double-standards towards Israel: "It is incumbent on that a United Nations senior official will denounce the provocative violence against Israel, its citizens and its sovereignty, instead of pointing the finger at a democracy trying to defend itself". Ayalon added that "Israel's territory is not worthless and will not be abandoned. Israel has the right and duty, as does any nation, to defend itself and its borders. It is disappointing that the person in charge of humanitarian affairs at the UN requires explanations on why defensible borders are a fundamental right of Israel's citizens. Israelis are not second class citizens and they are entailed to all the rights of citizens of other nations". Ayalon also expressed another protest against the false representation of Israel  contained in  the OCHA reports . "There is not now, nor has there been, a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories, these reports are inflaming the atmosphere and hurting regional stability," Ayalon said .