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U.S., Russia Criticize Israel at UN Security Council Over Temple Mount Visit by Ben Gvir [1]
['Jonathan Lis']
Date: 2023-01-05
The UN Security Council is holding an emergency discussion on Thursday evening on far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound that violated the status quo on the site that is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
The Council is convening on Thursday evening, following a request by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, and with the backing of other members of the council – including China and the United Arab Emirates.
At the beginning of the session, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Robert A. Wood said that the U.S. is concerned about rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians happening. Russia also said that any violation of the status quo in Jerusalem is unacceptable.
“We know that the Netanyahu government calls for maintaining the status quo at the holy sites. We expect the government to continue in this,” Wood said. He continued saying that “[w]e are concerned by any unilateral acts that exacerbate tensions or undermine the viability of a two-state solution.”
The Palestinian UN envoy, Dr. Riyad H. Mansour, told Haaretz that the Palestinian delegation to the UN intends to hold further consultations with representatives from Arab and Muslim countries until Friday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority’s moves with the UN are coordinated with Jordan and other Arab countries, and said that the international outreach to the UN has the potential to “stop the dangerous Israeli escalation that risks the holy places of Islam and Christianity.”
Thursday’s decision comes after a wave of international condemnations quickly followed Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound on Tuesday morning, which marked his first visit to the contested Jerusalem holy site since he took office last week.
The spokesperson of the U.S. embassy to Israel said that “Ambassador [Tom] Nides has been very clear in conversations with the Israeli government on the issue of preserving the status quo in Jerusalem’s holy sites. Actions that prevent that are unacceptable.”
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a briefing that Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount “has the potential to exacerbate tensions and to provoke violence.”
Price further stated that the U.S. “is deeply concerned by any unilateral actions that have the potential to exacerbate tensions precisely because we want to see the opposite happen. We want to see tensions reduced.”
He also said that “We will be represented as we typically are at this session by our ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfield, she’ll have an opportunity to speak to the underlying issue.
“And as I said yesterday, I expect what you hear from Ambassador Thomas Greenfield will be consistent with what you’ve heard from me and others over the past couple of days and that is the fact that we stand firmly for the preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem, and we oppose any unilateral actions that undercut the historic status quo, unilateral actions that in our view are unacceptable.”
The U.K. Embassy in Israel has also stated on Tuesday that it is “Concerned by the visit to Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount by Minister Ben-Gvir today,” and added that it “remains committed to the Status Quo, and it is important that all should avoid actions which inflame tensions and undermine the cause of peace.”
Condemnation statements were also issued by The French Embassy in Israel, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, Jordan, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 Muslim countries.
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[1] Url:
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-05/ty-article/.premium/un-security-council-to-hold-emergency-meeting-on-far-right-israeli-mks-temple-mount-visit/00000185-8117-deb4-add7-f39f63c30000
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