Israel bans UN secretary-general over anti-Israel actions: 'Doesn't deserve to set foot on Israeli soil'
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met on Wednesday following Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, but overshadowing the meeting was Israel's announcement that it had banned the U.N. secretary-general due to his failure to condemn Iran.
"Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said about the decision to declare U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as persona non grata.
"This is an anti-Israel secretary-general who lends support to terrorists, rapists and murderers," Katz argued. "Guterres will be remembered as a stain on the history of the U.N. for generations to come."
Iran on Tuesday fired over 180 ballistic missiles at Israel after the death of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and after the Israel Defense Forces began focused incursions into Lebanon to hit the terrorist group.
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Guterres on Tuesday issued a brief statement following Iran’s attack, calling it the "latest attacks in the Middle East" and broadly condemned the conflict as "escalation after escalation."
He also slammed Israel for its actions in Gaza and the West Bank, claiming that Israel has "conducted in Gaza the most deadly and destructive military campaign in my years."
"The suffering endured by the Palestinian people in Gaza is beyond imagination," Guterres said. "At the same time, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continues to deteriorate, with Israeli military operations."
"Construction of settlements, evictions, land grabs and the intensification of settler attacks progressively undermine any possibility of a two-state solution, and simultaneously, armed Palestinian groups have also used violence," he said.
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Israel blasted Guterres for failing to "unequivocally" condemn Iran’s attack or even name Iran while discussing the attack. Israel responded with the persona non grata declaration, effectively banning him from entering its borders.
"Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil," Katz said.
"This is a secretary-general who has yet to denounce the massacre and sexual atrocities committed by Hamas murderers on Oct. 7 and has not led any resolutions to declare them a terrorist organization," Katz continued.
"A secretary-general who provides support to the terrorists, rapists and murderers of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now Iran, the mothership of global terror, will be remembered as a stain on the history of the U.N. for generations to come," he added. "Israel will continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity, with or without António Guterres."
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And while it took nearly a day following the attacks to condemn Iran, Guterres seemed to get the message, telling council members: "As I did in relation to the Iranian attack in April – and as should have been obvious yesterday in the context of the condemnation I expressed – I again strongly condemn yesterday’s massive missile attack by Iran on Israel."
Israel’s decision to ban Guterres prompted anger from Algeria, which first expressed "sincere gratitude… solidarity, admiration and support for the secretary-general."
"This decision reflects a clear disdain of the U.N. system and the entire international community," the representative from Algeria said. "For the Israeli authorities, no narrative nor truth exists except their own."
However, some permanent members of the council expressed clear support for Israel and condemned Iran for the attack while urging Tehran to cease its support for terrorism through its proxy forces.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield "unequivocally" condemned Iran’s attack and called for further sanctions against Tehran. She also explicitly tied Iran to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arguing that "Iran was complicit… through its funding, training, capabilities and support for the military wing of Hamas."
"After Hamas's horrific attack carried out nearly a year ago today, the United States sent a clear message to Iran: Don't exploit the situation in ways that would risk propelling the region into a broader war," Thomas-Greenfield said.
"The IRGC flagrantly and repeatedly ignored this warning by encouraging and enabling the Houthis in Yemen to disrupt global shipping and launch attacks against Israel by supporting militant groups in Syria and Iraq," she continued.
"Iran's stated intention was to avenge the deaths of two IRGC-supported terrorist leaders and an IRGC commander by inflicting significant damage and death in Israel," she added. "Thankfully, and through close coordination between the United States and Israel, Iran failed to achieve its objectives."
"This outcome does not diminish the fact that this attack, intended to cause significant death and destruction, marked a significant escalation by Iran," she stressed.
The United Kingdom also condemned Iran’s attack and expressed "full support" for Israel "in exercising its right to defend itself against Iranian aggression."
France urged Iran to "abstain from any action that could lead to additional destabilization," going further to condemn the "attack that targeted civilians in Jaffa."
"Civilian populations are the first victims of this horrible situation," the French representative said. "The situation is serious."
Iran ultimately pleaded its case before the council, arguing that the Security Council has "remained paralyzed due to the United States obstruction" and accused permanent members France and the United Kingdom of acing as "serious enablers" of Israel who "attempt to justify Israeli heinous crimes under the guise of self-defense, shifting the blame onto Iran."
Reuters contributed to this report.