UN Lebanon envoy thanks Hezbollah, Israeli diplomats condemn

Several Israeli officials took to Twitter to push back on Wronecka's meeting with Moussawi. "Is this real..??," wrote Joshua Zarka, head of strategic affairs in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

JANUARY 18, 2023 23:51

Updated: JANUARY 19, 2023 08:57

HEZBOLLAH MEMBERS hold flags during a rally marking the annual Hezbollah Martyrs’ Day, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, last month (photo credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS) — HEZBOLLAH MEMBERS hold flags during a rally marking the annual Hezbollah Martyrs’ Day, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, last month

(photo credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS)

A United Nations official on Monday thanked a representative of Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, for giving her a "tour d’horizon" of Lebanese issues. The statement drew condemnation from Israeli officials.

"I thank Mr. Ammar Moussawi of Hizbullah (sic) for a tour d’horizon on issues of priority for #Lebanon, including the election of a new President, the functioning of state institutions and the impact of regional and international developments on the country," Joanna Wronecka, the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon and formerly Poland's ambassador, tweeted to Hezbollah's head of international relations.

I thank Mr. Ammar Moussawi of Hizbullah for a tour d’horizon on issues of priority for #Lebanon, including the election of a new President, the functioning of state institutions and the impact of regional and international developments on the country.
— Joanna Wronecka (@JWronecka) January 16, 2023

Several Israeli officials took to Twitter to push back on Wronecka's meeting with Moussawi.

"An official Senior UN Representative thanks the terrorist organization responsible for the murder of a UN peace keeper for ‘a tour d’horizon’!!!"
Joshua Zarka

"Is this real..??" asked Joshua Zarka, head of strategic affairs in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "An official Senior UN Representative thanks the terrorist organization responsible for the murder of a UN peacekeeper for ‘a tour d’horizon’!!!"

European ambassadors to the United Nations Security Council (L-R) Jurgen Schulz, German Deputy Ambassador to the UN, France's Nicolas De Riviere, Britain's Karen Pierce, Poland's Joanna Wronecka and Belgium's Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve reiterate their position on Israeli settlements in occupied Pal (credit: REUTERS/RODRIGO CAMPOS)

Yaki Lopez, head of public diplomacy at Israel’s embassy in Berlin, asked: "So how does it feel to be indoctrinated by a terrorist? Care to share with us?"

Wronecka's predecessor also met with Hezbollah

Previous UN Lebanon officials have sparked controversy for meeting with Hezbollah, including Wronecka's predecessor, Jan Kubis, who in 2019 met with Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem and was gifted a copy of his book, which Kubis called “a necessary reading.”