Israel's foreign minister declared UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres 'persona non grata' and was henceforth banning him from entering Israel, according to a post on X/Twitter on Wednesday.
The ban on entry, said FM Israel Katz, was due to Guterres's failure to "unequivocally condemn" Iran's massive missile attack on Israel.
"Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil," Katz wrote.
He added that Guterres is yet to denounce the October 7 massacre, which is approaching its one year anniversary, or condemn Hamas's use of sexual violence.
Katz also criticized the Guterres for not leading "any efforts to declare [Hamas] a terrorist organization." A resident clears debris following the October 7 attack by Hamas in Kibbutz Be’eri. For many generations to come, 5784 will be remembered as a year of catastrophe. (credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO)
"A Secretary-General who gives backing to terrorists, rapists, and murderers from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now Iran—the mothership of global terror—will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN."
"Israel will continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity, with or without António Guterres," he concluded.
Following Israel's invasion of Lebanon on Monday, Guterres posted on X/Twitter that he was concerned with the escalation and said an "all-out war must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be respected."
Following the Iran attack on Israel on Tuesday night, Guterres called for a ceasefire.
Israel was not mentioned in the posts. Stay updated with the latest news! Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter Subscribe Now
In April, the United Nations omitted Hamas from its blacklist of state and non-state parties guilty of sexual violence in 2023, due to a lack of what it deemed to be credible evidence.
The blacklist was part of a larger annual report on sexual violence authored by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he was “disgusted” by the report in a statement released to the media.
“Guterres has turned the UN into an extremely antisemitic and anti-Israel institution during his tenure which will be remembered as the darkest in the organization’s history,” Katz said.
Tovah Lazaroff contibuted to this report.
OtherAd4337 on October 2nd, 2024 at 11:44 UTC »
A reminder that both Ban Ki-Moon and Kofi Annan, the last two UN secretary generals have repeatedly stated themselves that the UN is biased against Israel, mostly after leaving office. Guterres is a pure product of that 20-year running obsession with condemning Israel.
dschwarz on October 2nd, 2024 at 11:40 UTC »
Israel didn’t bar Guterres from entering the country. Israel Katz claims to have done so. Does he actually have the power to do so in his role as FM?
(This is not a comment on Guterres.)
Such_Lobster1426 on October 2nd, 2024 at 10:52 UTC »
Guterres will claim that he had no idea Iran attacked Israel.
The same way Lazzarini said he had no idea UNRWA employed a Hamas leader. After he was told multiple times.