Prosor: Delegitimization campaign against Israel ‘Chinese torture’

Ambassador mocks foreign officials who argued that the Palestinian question remained the Middle East’s greatest challenge.

By MICHAEL WILNER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
Israel UN envoy Ron Prosor at the UN 390 (photo credit: Screenshot Al Jazeera)
Israel UN envoy Ron Prosor at the UN 390
(photo credit: Screenshot Al Jazeera)
WASHINGTON – Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor thanked a gathering of pro- Israel pastors in Washington on Tuesday for their grassroots and political support, warning that the Jewish state faced tough days ahead as the region’s future became increasingly unstable.
Speaking at the Christians United for Israel conference, Prosor said the state had weathered six wars and economic isolation, but that the new offensive against Israel – a campaign of delegitimization – was “Chinese torture” that would slowly have a real and adverse effect.
His speech came just hours after he gave remarks at the UN Security Council during its monthly debate on the Middle East.
Prosor told the Christian group that 80 percent of the monthly UN debate addresses Israel, while issues concerning Syria, Egypt and Iran take a back seat. The ambassador mocked foreign officials who argued that the Palestinian question remained the Middle East’s greatest challenge.
“It is surprising that while certain ‘small and insignificant’ events are taking place in Egypt, 100,000 Syrian citizens are being slaughtered by a ruthless dictator, Bashar Assad, and Hezbollah is conducting terror campaigns across the globe, the Security Council prefers to allocate 80% of its time [to] scrutinizing every balcony and rooftop in Judea and Samaria,” he told the conference.
Direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations coordinated by the United States are scheduled to resume this week. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also spoke to the Christian group.
The Senate newcomer said that “under each and every circumstance,” the alliance between Israel and the United States “must remain entirely unshakable.”
Cruz claimed that seven of the nine main rebel groups in Syria are affiliated with al-Qaida – a statistic The Jerusalem Post could not verify.
The senator also said he viewed an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities as “entirely possible in the coming months.”
The Christian organization awarded its Defender of Israel Award to Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Christians United for Israel, founded in 2006, has 1.3 million members across the US.