When
UN's Ban
Called
Netanyahu,
Some If-Asked
Elements
Dropped
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
20 -- Three
days after
Israel's
election, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
March 20
called
Benyamin
Netanyahu with
congratulations
and two
"urgings,"
according to
the UN
read-out:
"The
Secretary-General
called Prime
Minister
Netanyahu of
Israel today
to
congratulate
him on his
recent
electoral
victory.
The
Secretary-General
told the Prime
Minister that
he looked
forward to
working with
the new
government
upon its
formation.
"The
Secretary-General
also urged the
Prime Minister
to release the
tax revenue
currently held
by Israel but
owed to the
Palestinian
Authority.
Lastly, the
Secretary-General
reiterated his
view that the
two-state
solution was
the only way
forward and
urged the
Prime Minister
to renew
Israel’s
commitment to
that goal."
Back
on March 18,
the UN did not
issue any
statement.
Instead, its
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
waited to be
asked the
question, then
read out word
for word an
"if-asked"
about
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
position that
was not put
online as a
statement, nor
put on the
counter in the
UN
Spokesperson's
office. But
here, to
compare it
with the
read-out two
days later, is
what the
if-asked said:
“The
Secretary-General
welcomes the
announcement
of the
preliminary
results of
yesterday's
Israeli
general
elections and
hopes for the
rapid
establishment
of a new
Government
that reflects
the will of
all Israeli
voters. It is
incumbent on
the new
Israeli
Government,
once formed,
to create the
conditions for
a negotiated
final peace
agreement -
with the
active
engagement of
the
international
community -
that will end
the Israeli
occupation and
realize the
creation of a
viable
Palestinian
state, living
in peace and
security
alongside
Israel. This
includes the
cessation of
illegal
settlement
building in
the Occupied
Palestinian
Territory. The
Secretary-General
firmly
believes this
is also the
best and only
way forward
for Israel to
remain a
democratic
state. He
urges the
Israeli
Government to
resume,
without
further delay,
the transfer
of the tax
revenues it is
obligated to
dispense to
the Government
of Palestine
in accordance
with the Paris
Protocol.”
The
reference to
the democratic
state was
dropped; on
March 18,
Israel's Ron
Prosor put out
a statement
that
"The
United Nations
may disagree
with the
policies of
the Israeli
government,
but there is
one fact that
can’t be
disputed -
that Israel is
the only
democracy in
the Middle
East.
Yesterday
Israelis went
to the polls
and 72% of
citizens voted
– that’s one
of the highest
voter turnouts
in the world.
If the UN is
so concerned
about the
future of the
Palestinian
people, it
should be
asking why
President
Abbas is in
the tenth year
of a five-year
presidential
term or why
Hamas uses the
Palestinian
people as
human
shields.”
The UN's March
20 read-out of
Ban Ki-moon's
call to
Netanyahu
dropped
several
elements of
the March 18
If-Asked.
Back on
January 5,
days after the
UN Security
Council
rejected
Palestine's
draft
resolution,
Palestinian
Observer to
the UN Riyad
Mansour wrote
to UN Security
Council
President
Christian
Barros of
Chile to
complain of
Israel's
decision to
withheld
Palestinian
tax revenue,
calling it
piracy.
Mansour
said “Israel,
the Occupying
power, has
resumed the
theft of
Palestinian
tax revenues
in direct
retaliation
for the
legitimate,
steps taken by
the
Palestinian
leadership,”
including
filing to join
the
International
Criminal
Court.
Mansour
said “we
reiterate such
such an action
constitutes an
act of piracy”
and asked the
UN Security
Council
members to
“uphold their
responsibilities
toward
addressing
this illegal
situation in
all its
manifestations.”
Inner
City Press on
January 5
asked Barros
about a new
Palestine
resolution; he
said he hadn't
been informed
of one,
formally or
informally,
but that he'd
read media
reports there
might be a
move "next
week."
Now it's
been far
longer. But
now, with the
results, how
much longer?
, 
