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,” Mr. 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 Mr. Netanyahu to the press after their
meeting, Mr. 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.Also today, Mr.
Guterres met with President Reuven Rivlin, whom
he told that while
the UN will always be “very frank” in the dialogue with Israel,
“we will always be very committed to make sure that
anti-Semitism doesn’t prevail and that equality in the
treatment of all states is fully respected.
Earlier in the day, Mr. 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
today call anti-Semitism,” he told the press
after touring the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
Mr. 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, Mr. 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).
