UN chief Guterres meets Israel's Netanyahu in Jerusalem, pledges to fight anti-Semitism

On his first visit to Israel since taking office at the beginning of this year, the Secretary-General met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders in Jerusalem.

“I understand the security concerns of Israel, and I repeat that the idea or the intention or the will to destroy the State of Israel is something totally unacceptable from my perspective,” he said.

Calling himself an impartial “honest broker” and a “messenger of peace,” Guterres noted that Members of the UN are sovereign countries with their own interests, values and convictions.

“To be an honest broker means that all countries must be treated equally both by the Secretary-General and the Secretariat that the Secretary-General directs. This is for me very clear and you can be sure that these values will be upheld,” he said.

He added that he has expressed his opposition to the settlement activity in the region, but also noted the terrorism, violence and incitement, as well as the difficulties created by the separation between the West Bank and Gaza.

Speaking alongside Netanyahu to the press after their meeting, Guterres disclosed what he said was a long-time dream that the Holy Land be home to two states, with a Jerusalem which is shared by three religions.

Earlier on Monday, Guterres visited Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, where he reiterated his commitment to fighting anti-Semitism in all its expressions.

“The Holocaust was not a crazy initiative of a group of paranoid Nazis but it was the combination of millennia, of persecution and discrimination of the Jewish people of what we on Monday call anti-Semitism,” he told the press after touring the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

Guterres said that he had been “shocked” when a few days ago he listened to the chanting of a neo Nazi group in a developed country chanting the slogan of the Nazis – “blood and soil.”

“That is a dramatic demonstration that it is our duty to do everything possible and, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, I fully assume that commitment to do everything possible to fight anti-Semitism in all its expressions,” he said, adding that his commitment to fighting anti-Semitism is as great as his commitment to fight racism, xenophobia, ant-Muslim hatred and all other forms of bigotry.

During his three-day visit to the region, Guterres will meet with Palestine leadership and engage with civil society and university leaders. He is also scheduled to visit a facility run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Photo: Shlomi Amsalem

Source: www.justearthnews.com