Danon: Palestinians must choose: Slandering Israel or help with COVID?
“The Palestinian leadership will have to choose between slandering or receive support from Israel. It cannot have both,” Danon said.
By LAHAV HARKOVA Palestinian man checks a truck loaded with medical aid after entering Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 28, 2014. An open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war held on Wednesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced strong criticism in Israel over a costl(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
The Palestinians cannot continue to falsely claim that Israel is spreading coronavirus among its people, while still expecting support from Israel in fighting the pandemic, Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon warned on Monday.“The Palestinian leadership will have to choose between slandering or receive support from Israel. It cannot have both,” Danon said.The ambassador’s comments came several days after the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour wrote to the Security Council accusing Israel of hampering the Palestinian Authority's efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus.Mansour claimed that IDF soldiers spit on Palestinian cars and homes, and dump trash, needles and used gloves between villages. He also included the false charge that Israel is forcing Palestinian workers to return to PA-controlled areas through wastewater tunnels to smuggle them past PA authorities mandating coronavirus testing. This was Mansour’s second such letter in two weeks.Danon said that “as Israel remains open and able to help the Palestinians living under PA rule to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the PA only remains interested in continuing its diplomatic warfare against Israel.The PA’s “rhetoric against Israel, the IDF and the Jewish people is inciting, baseless and threatens to undo any progress we've made in combating the virus."The PA has acknowledged that Israel offered it assistance in fighting COVID-19, and the UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov has repeatedly praised Israel's “excellent coordination and cooperation” with Palestinian officials to stem the outbreak. Israel has helped train Palestinian health workers in fighting coronavirus.Israel released NIS 120 million of frozen tax funds to Ramallah last month, trained Palestinian medical professionals and has facilitated the entry of necessary medical equipment into Gaza.On Friday, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj.-Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun warned "there could be repercussions in various spheres" if the PA continues the accusations against Israel.“Such shameful remarks, baseless and indefensible, completely contradict the plain fact that Israel has prepared and engaged itself to give all possible assistance in the regional effort to halt the spread of the epidemic, both in Israel and in the Palestinian territories. We see those remarks and accusations as crossing a redline and disparaging the enormous efforts that Israel is making in the face of the shared challenge and crisis besetting the entire region," he said.Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
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