Thank you Mr. Chairman,

Today we heard a number of delegations spreading condemnations and accusations against my Country. It is truly absurd to hear the world's biggest tyrannies lecture the Middle East only democracy!

The Syrian cynical attack on my Country is just another desperate attempt to divert attention from the real issues before us and from the grave situation in Syria.

But, today this comes as no surprise, as the Syrian delegate represents a government with zero credibility, a government that cares nothing about its own people but only about maintaining the brutal Assad regime.

We could spend here all day talking about the Syrian children, who have been tortured, Syrian women who were raped and killed by Assad and his regime.

And you do not need the detective skills of Sherlock Holmes to clue into the fact that the Assad regime is responsible for the death of over 200,000 of his own people.

With regard to Algeria, from all the issues the delegation of Algeria could have brought up today, they chose to use their time to slander Israel.

One has to wonder where a Country like Algeria that restricts public protests, controls all television and radio stations, and sustains a corrupted judicial system – gets the nerve to lector democracy like Israel.

Lastly, I would also like to address the remarks made earlier by the Palestinian delegate in his statement.  

If it weren’t so ironic, it would be comical that in a debate on the protection of civilians, the Palestinian delegate chose to talk about Israel and did not mention Hamas even once.

Furthermore, the Palestinian delegate’s remarks had no constructive purpose and served only to inflame hostilities towards my country. It seems that once again the Palestinian delegation is heavy on the criticism of Israel, but very light on the facts. 

So I will clarify the facts:

Over the course of 50 days in July and August this year, Israel did everything in its power to protect civilians on both sides.  In fact, some of the precautions taken by the IDF go beyond requirements under international law. To be clear on this, Israel does not target civilians.

At the same time, over the course of 50 days in July and August this year, Hamas acted in complete disregard for international law and human rights.   In keeping with its modus operandi of operating within the civilian population and employing civilians as human shields, Hamas fired over 4,500 rockets at Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians.

For seven long weeks, Hamas targeted Israeli citizens at a rate of roughly one rocket every 15 minutes.  They fired these rockets from Gaza’s mosques, schools, hospitals, and civilian homes.

The use of human shields by Hamas has been well-documented. In the current hostilities, Hamas ordered its own civilians not to evacuate neighborhoods after Israel warned of imminent attacks. It encouraged innocent citizens to go up to the roofs of houses after Israeli phone calls to warn the residents.

By using its own civilians as human shields and intentionally targeting Israeli citizens, Hamas committed a double war crime. But you don’t have to take my word for it.

Even the Palestinian representative to the UN Human Rights Council admitted a few months ago that (and I quote) “each and every” Palestinian missile launched against Israeli civilian centers constitutes “a crime against humanity”.  By contrast, the Palestinian representative said that Israel’s own response actions in Gaza (and I quote again) “followed the legal procedures.”

Therefore, it is time for the Palestinians to take responsibility and address the heart of the problem and the real criminal perpetrators – namely, Hamas.

It is unfortunate that certain delegations use this forum time and again as their own personal vending machines, dispensing baseless accusations and destruction condemnations.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  ​