Israel declares U.N. chief António Guterres persona non grata
Israel has barred U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres from entering the country, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday, criticizing him for failing to forcefully condemn Iran’s latest missile attack.
Katz said Guterres had been declared persona non grata, a rare diplomatic designation that appeared to reflect broader Israeli anger at the United Nations that has increased since the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023. The Israeli government has said U.N. officials, including Guterres, have failed to criticize attacks against Israel in strong enough terms.
“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 in a statement Wednesday. “Israel will continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity with or without António Guterres.”
Guterres has repeatedly condemned the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 and demanded that all hostages taken from Israel that day be released. He condemned an Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel in April. At the same time, he has also repeatedly called for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and criticized what he called the collective punishment of Palestinians in the enclave.
Hours after the Israeli statement, Guterres said at an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council that he condemned Iran’s attack.
“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,” he said.
“These attacks paradoxically do nothing to support the cause of the Palestinian people or reduce their suffering,” he said.
Following the Iranian missile attack against Israel on Tuesday — which was largely thwarted — Guterres wrote in a post on social media: “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a cease-fire.”
It was not clear whether Katz’s statement was a direct response to that post by Guterres.
The Israeli government, which had previously called on Guterres to resign, has also said that the main U.N. agency that aids Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, UNRWA, employs many people who are linked to Hamas and other militant groups, and has called for the agency to be disbanded.
An independent review commissioned by the U.N. said Israel had provided no supporting evidence for its claims of aid workers’ widespread links to terrorist organizations. The U.N. cleared 10 specific workers accused of taking part in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and fired nine others because of possible involvement.
The United States and other governments condemned Iran for the attack Tuesday — which Iran said was in retaliation for the assassinations of leaders of its proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah — and said they would stand by Israel.
But when asked about Israel’s decision to bar Guterres from entering Israel, the State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said Wednesday, “We don’t find that step to be productive in any way.”
The Security Council was holding an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the attack and the threat of a wider Middle East war.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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