YouSaid · the spoken record

Gillerman

lines on the record: 555
first: 2003-02-20
most recent: 2008-07-22
sittings or episodes: 44
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“The fact remains that the Palestinian leadership still refuses to fulfil any of its obligations to confront and dismantle the Palestinian terrorist network, in an ongoing and egregious violation of basic international norms, signed commitments and the explicit terms of the road map's very first clauses. Instead, the Palestinian leadership continues to offer encouragement and support for those actions, glorifying murder as martyrdom and pursuing a campaign of incitement to hatred and violence. The Palestinian leadership continues to choose an alliance of violence with the terrorists over a partnership for peace with Israel, based on mutual obligations and mutual compromise, and the Israeli and Palestinian peoples pay the price of that cruel choice every single day.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“As a recent statement issued by Hamas operatives declared, "We are sending a clear message to the Zionists that Qassam rockets will continue and will reach their targets, God willing. And tell those occupying Ashkelon that their turn is coming soon." This is an insufferable situation that no country, including those whose representatives sit around this table, could or would tolerate. Despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority has thousands of police and security personnel in the northern Gaza Strip, they are doing nothing, and have done nothing for years, to halt the firing of Qassam rockets on Israeli communities.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“Terrorist groups, operating with complete freedom and immunity from Palestinian Authority territory, have every intention of escalating and intensifying this campaign with ever-more sophisticated weapons. Palestinian terror organizations have been producing Qassam rockets in metal workshops dispersed throughout the Gaza Strip. Hamas has developed these new rockets using knowledge gathered over the years by international terror groups. The ease with which these rockets are hidden, transported and launched and the ability to mass- produce them have made them a weapon of choice. Hamas is currently seeking to develop the Qassam 4 rocket to enhance the range of the missile and increase the impact of its explosion.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“In similar incidents on 28 June, four rockets in Sderot killed two Israeli civilians - Afik Zahavi, aged four, and Mordechai Yosopov, aged 49 - landing near a nursery school and damaging a nearby coffee shop. Indeed, as part of a broader Palestinian terrorist campaign that has brought untold suffering, more than 460 of these Qassam rockets have been indiscriminately fired at Israel's civilian population, causing numerous deaths, many injuries and extensive destruction of property. Qassam rocket-fire from Gaza continues, even as we speak, to be deliberately directed against the civilian community, targeting and terrorizing innocent civilians as they lie in their beds, sit in their living rooms or take their children to school.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“On 29 September 2004, the eve of the Succoth holiday - or the Feast of Tabernacles - which we are still celebrating as we sit here today, two Israeli children, Dorit Aniso, age two, and Yuval Abedeh, age four, were murdered by Qassam rockets fired at their home in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. The Palestinian terror organization Hamas proudly claimed responsibility for that attack. The murder of those two young children is only the latest in a continuing onslaught of such terrorist incidents, in which the innocent civilians of Sderot and neighbouring communities have been targeted without respite. Those rocket attacks, like other acts of Palestinian terror, are employed with the specific intent of killing and injuring as many civilians as possible.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“At the outset, I would like to convey my congratulations to you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month. You have already done so very ably in the past and I am sure you will do so this month as well, although I wish I were congratulating you under different circumstances. Sadly, the Security Council has once again been galvanized into action not because of the murder of children, but because of the defence against those murders. Once again, consequently, there is an attempt to put the victims of terror in the dock, rather than the murderers themselves. That recurring phenomenon is disturbing and alarming.”
2004-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5049 (2004) · source
“This resolution, regrettably, does nothing to further peace in the Middle East. Sadly, until the Palestinian people produce a credible and sane leadership that truly wants peace and is willing to The Security Council has thus concluded the dismantle the infrastructure of terror and negotiate in present stage of its consideration of the item on its good faith, no resolution will. agenda.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“It is time that we ask the Palestinian leadership whether inciting terror, smuggling weapons and celebrating by dancing with the limbs of the dead are helping the cause of their people. It is time to make it clear that terrorism, even in the Palestinian cities of Gaza, is always unacceptable. Achieving peace is simply not possible in an atmosphere of violence and terrorism. Characteristically, the Palestinian leadership has accepted that in principle and then proceeded to undertake every diversionary tactic it could conceive to avoid fulfilling its obligations. What was true in September 2000 remains true today: no progress is possible in the region as long as the Palestinian Authority continues to use its position and its resources to encourage a campaign of violence and terrorism against the citizens of Israel.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“We have no war with the Palestinian aspiration for statehood. The Prime Minister of Israel has stated clearly that Israel believes in the vision of two States, side by side, in peace and security. We have a war with terror and with those who are determined not to create the Palestinian State but to destroy the Jewish one. For nearly four years, Israelis have been the victims of a relentless and ongoing campaign by Palestinian terrorists to spread death and destruction, condemning our region to ongoing turmoil, killing 977 Israelis and injuring more than 6,000. A genuine and responsible Palestinian leadership must be called finally and in clear terms - not in the faltering language of this typically one-sided resolution - to fight a war with terror.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“And it is those in the Palestinian leadership who place a higher price on smuggling weapons than on the welfare of the innocent resident population - those who have abandoned all responsibility and allowed their civilians to be at the mercy of terrorist groups that use their homes and their bodies as shields - who have forced us to take these steps. The suffering of the Palestinian population is a direct result of Palestinian terrorism aimed at innocent civilians and the need for Israel to protect its citizens from these abhorrent attacks. Rather than criticize Israel for damaging private property, those truly concerned for Palestinian welfare, including humanitarian organizations in the area, should instead demand that the terrorists stop using homes to shield their illegal operations. Israel has no war with the Palestinian people.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“Those violations cost the lives of the Hatuel family, and they will cost the lives of hundreds more unless the Palestinian leadership finally lives up to its responsibilities or, failing that, Israel undertakes the necessary defensive measures. If the Palestinian Authority had acted to fulfil its responsibilities as stated in the first stage of the implementation of the road map, there would be no need for the current Israel Defence Forces activity. It should be emphasized: it is the Palestinians, not Israel, that have turned civilian homes into military targets.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“What signal does rejectionist leadership, weapons smuggling, parading with body parts and shooting mothers and daughters send to those who desire peace in our region? The complete and utter refusal of the Palestinian Authority to prevent those actions violates the most basic norms of human rights, morality, signed agreements and peace plans such as the road map. In the vacuum left by those wilful violations, members of Yasser Arafat's own Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Islamic Jihad were able to proudly and publicly claim responsibility for the heroic attack earlier this month on a pregnant Israeli mother and her four daughters - aged 2 to 11 - gunned down at point- blank range in Gaza.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“This brings with it an ample windfall: the construction of a new house by the Palestinian Authority. Despite all this, Israel's Prime Minister remains committed to promoting his plan for disengagement from Gaza. Earlier this month, leaders from the international community met here in New York, in this very building, to discuss ideas for implementing that Israeli initiative. There was general agreement that the plan would improve the situation in Gaza for Palestinians and Israelis alike. However, the Palestinian response has been to increase violence and to renew its commitment to terror as a solution. Just two days ago, Yasser Arafat addressed his people, calling on them to terrorize the enemy.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“The death of 13 soldiers in ground operations in the Gaza Strip earlier this month is an example of the heavy price Israel pays for its commitment to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties. This was not the first time that the strict employment of such standards has resulted in the death of Israelis. Israel's action in Gaza is all the more critical in the face of the failure of the Palestinian leadership to act determinedly against this threat. Today, weapons smuggling is run and managed by terrorist organizations with the approval and active participation of the Palestinian Authority. Amazingly enough, the Palestinian Authority has actually encouraged residents to conceal tunnels in their residences, which results in the demolition of their homes.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“Therefore, in the midst of combat, when dictated by operational necessity, Israeli security forces may lawfully destroy structures used by terrorists. This is common knowledge, and yet it is too often that the Security Council is called upon to apply a different standard to Israel. While operating against the terrorist infrastructure, Israel is doing its utmost to minimize the humanitarian impact on the civilian population. Israel refrains whenever possible from attacking terrorist targets from the air or with artillery, in order to minimize collateral damage. In so doing, Israel risks greater danger to the lives of its soldiers in order to lessen the risk to local residents.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“While certain security measures taken in self- defence and necessitated by terrorist threats unfortunately cause hardships to sectors of the Palestinian population, this is categorically not their intent. Both customary law and conventional law make it clear that the use of civilian objects and dwellings to support a military attack constitutes a war crime. The IDF does not demolish structures indiscriminately. Only those involved in terror and Violence against Israeli civilians hold no immunity. When terrorists fire from within civilian structures, activate roadside charges from trees and fields or use a structure to conceal a weapons-transfer tunnel, military necessity dictates the demolition of these locations. Under international law, these structures are considered legitimate military targets.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“Since April of this year, the Israel Defence Force has exposed eight underground tunnels used for smuggling weapons in the area of Rafah, in addition to 11 underground tunnels since the beginning of this year and 90 underground tunnels since the beginning of the intifada in September 2000. And just this week, the IDF discovered a new tunnel in Rafah already activated for use in smuggling arms into Gaza. The tunnel was 150 metres long and 5 metres deep and had four openings that led directly into Palestinian homes in the area. IDF actions in Gaza have been criticized as collective punishment. Let me be clear: these tunnels are collective in their harm to all peoples in the area but require a response that is precise and decisive in its effect.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“This is what makes this region, at the Egyptian-Israeli border, the weakest link for weapons smuggling". If Israel does not act today to fight against the weapons smuggled and manufactured in Gaza, next month Katyusha rockets will be aimed at the homes of its citizens. The purpose of the current Israel Defence Force (IDF) action in Gaza is to terminate the transfer of all illegal weapons by underground tunnels to Gaza. One security measure employed in this regard is the demolition of structures that pose an operative security risk to Israeli forces. Recent actions have shown this countermeasure to be an effective and lawful way to minimize the occurrence of such attacks in general, and suicide terrorism in particular.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“As the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Moshe Ya'alon, said only last week, "It appears to us that although we are doing the best we can to prevent the smuggling of weapons to the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians have managed to smuggle RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], which they are not supposed to have. They have been successful in smuggling RPGs, and quite a few too. We know for a fact that on the Egyptian side of the border, at the top of the Sinai desert, there are weapons that have reached that area. As far as we are concerned, Iran, through Hizbullah, is responsible for the presence of these weapons in that area. They are the ones that promote the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, unfortunately through the Sinai. This has happened because they have found the other borders to be impossible to penetrate, either by land or water.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“The unhindered effort by terrorist organizations to smuggle high-quality weapons, including rocket- propelled grenades, Katyusha rockets and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, has already led to an escalation in the security situation and can lay a further burden on the population in the Gaza Strip. In recent months, Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in Gaza have commenced executing a systematic plan to turn Gaza into a platform for launching rockets and missiles capable of reaching the entire aerial territory of Israel. In fact, the whole of Gaza, and Rafah in particular, is on the verge of becoming a missile base aimed at Israel's cities and civilian population. What would the international community have Israel do? Just sit back and wait for this horrific scenario to materialize?”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“Last year numerous demonstrations by local residents were staged outside the Palestinian Authority's police and preventive security headquarters and other public buildings to protest the ongoing policy of apathy among the leadership of the Palestinian Authority. Unfortunately, Israel does not have the luxury of pursuing that policy of apathy and inaction. Faced with the failure of the Palestinian leadership to comply with its obligations to fight terrorism, stop incitement and prevent the smuggling of weapons, Israel remains obligated to act in self-defence against a threat that poses a clear and present danger to innocent lives, while upholding its obligations under international law.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“The Rafah tunnels are typically dug inside residential homes to evade discovery by Israeli security personnel, in blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of Palestinian civilians. They are concealed under bathrooms, living rooms and kitchens. They are intentionally hidden under the beds of children and little babies, concealed by loose planks and rags. The smuggling of massive arsenals and weapons at epidemic proportions and the cynical use of civilian areas to launch terrorist attacks invariably lead to the loss of innocent life and affect the basic right of people to lead their lives peacefully, without fear of getting killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Among local residents terrorized by these concerns, there has been growing opposition to the tunnel-building and weapons-smuggling in Rafah.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“These tunnels of terror provide the conduit for the smuggling of large amounts of diverse weapons, including among them hundreds of kilogrammes of explosives; hundreds of rifles, mainly AK-47 Kalashnikovs; tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition; and dozens of rocket-propelled-grenade rockets and launchers, which are entirely incompatible with signed agreements and any plan for a return to non-violent negotiations. Israel views the illicit trade and trafficking in small arms and light weapons as a humanitarian issue as well as a security one. We cannot forget for a moment that the terrorists seek to harm civilians not only in the locations they target, but also in the locations in which they seek shelter and from where they launch their attack.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“The southern city of Rafah serves as the arms-smuggling gateway of the Palestinian Authority and the main pipeline for transporting weapons and ammunition in Gaza. Since September 2000, subterranean tunnels constructed underneath the "Philadelphi route" have been used by Iran and Hizbullah, as well as by Palestinian terrorist organizations like Hamas and the PFLP, for turning the Gaza Strip into a base for missile and rocket attacks against Israeli targets.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“It did not come together following the hijacking by armed elements in Gaza last week of an ambulance of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. It did not stand up against the murder of a mother and her four daughters in the Gaza Strip or against the continuing cultivation of a culture of hate and destruction by the Palestinian leadership. The Council will not serve the cause of peace in the Middle East by condemning Israeli actions and ignoring the violence, terrorism and incitement that continue to emanate from the Palestinian leadership. Such repeated rituals embolden terrorism; they do not embolden those who seek to dismantle it. Today, Israel stands at the gates of Hell in the Gaza Strip.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“The Palestinian delegation has once again rejected any language that seeks to recognize any consideration of the legitimate aims of Israel's defensive counter-terrorist operation. To be frank, this blatant and one-sided posture is more a blemish on the record of those who presented this draft resolution to the Council - and much more a transparent exercise in double standards - than it is an admonition of Israeli conduct. The Security Council has never dealt with the dangers to peace and security of smuggling arms through the tunnels of Rafah from Egypt. It did not meet to condemn the horrendous desecration of the bodies of Israeli soldiers - young men who were killed during a defensive operation to dismantle those tunnels.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“We find it regrettable that certain members of the Council have galvanized to condemn Israel's response to the ongoing Palestinian terrorist campaign, and not those actions that have brought the region to despair and compelled Israel to take defensive measures. Once again, the members of the Council have been forced to convene to debate a draft text that, for any careful observer, should dispel the illusion that the intent of its drafters is the improvement of the situation in the region and the encouragement of a fair, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement. The one-sided text before the Council this afternoon rebukes Israel but fails to expressly condemn - by name and not by ambiguous terminology - the Palestinian terrorism that necessitated Israeli action.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“The Palestinian Observer has described a litany of Palestinian suffering, without pointing the finger at those responsible for that suffering: his own corrupt and evil leadership, who, while rejecting offers of peace by Israel and the international community, have resorted to terror and violence, dragging Israel, the whole region and the Palestinian people onto a road of horror, bloodshed and destruction. It is this Palestinian leadership that bears the blame. In choosing the course of terror rather than the road of peace, the Palestinian leaders have brought unto their own the reality described by the Palestinian Observer. This reality, described here today - albeit in a blatant and biased manner - is the result of a corrupt and evil leadership. And it this leadership that is the region's and the Palestinian's real tragedy.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“The demonstration was organized by none other than the Palestinian Authority, in violation of the established curfew. While Israel deeply regrets any loss of civilian life, those numbers put into proportion today's incident, which itself took place under conditions of heavy fighting by Palestinian terrorists. Under the incredibly difficult circumstances in which Israel has taken action against the terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, terrorists operate among civilians, and tragedy can strike. Israel has done, and will continue to do, everything it can to prevent harm to innocent civilians. Even during times of war the death of innocent civilians is regrettable, but we cannot be deluded by false pretence and any ambiguity between the terrorists and those who fight that deplorable scourge.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“I can only express my disappointment that some members of the international community - including, sadly, as reflected in the statement attributed to the Secretary-General - have been misled by the Palestinian propaganda machine into making false accusations and drawing conclusions which do not reflect the facts on the ground. We have not, unfortunately, heard such strong sentiments expressed when innocent Israelis have been slain. So first, here are the facts: during a large procession of several thousand demonstrators, which included many gunmen, seven Palestinians were killed, of whom four or five were armed terrorists. The incident occurred as the crowd left central Rafah along the main road towards the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in Tel-Sultan.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“At the outset, let me congratulate you, Mr. President, on your able conduct of the work of the Council during the month of May. Let me also commend the stewardship of Ambassador Pleuger during the month of April. The Council has convened here as usual, at the urgent behest of the Palestinian Observer, under a barrage of information, misinformation and disinformation. In the interests of truth and objectivity, let us first get the facts straight. I wish to state emphatically and officially that the numbers distributed by the Palestinians about the events in Rafah today are exaggerated and totally false.”
2004-05-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4972 (2004) · source
“And yet, so far the Palestinian leadership and, as we have just heard, its representative here have acted consistently with their long tradition of never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. As I have said before, the Palestinian leadership has a choice and the international community and this Council should encourage it finally to make the right one. It need not be on the wrong side in the war against terror. It can also choose a different path. It can prove to the world that it is ready to assume responsibilities, not just demand privileges. It can show that it is ready to establish a democratic society that will respect the rights of its people and the rights of its neighbours, and not another terrorist dictatorship in the heart of the Middle East. Israel is ready, as always, to be a partner in peace with such a leadership.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“For those who have sponsored and tolerated terrorism and sought for decades to prejudge the outcome of negotiations by pushing one-sided resolutions through the United Nations, complaining of a so-called unilateralist approach is the height of hypocrisy that totally and, perhaps, deliberately misunderstands this historic and courageous initiative. This is a moment of opportunity, a chance for the Palestinian side to prove finally that it is capable of a new and responsible leadership that fights terror and prefers the welfare of its people to the personal, corrupt wealth of its leaders. The heart of the initiative is the evacuation of settlements - something the Palestinian side has long called for.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“The initiative is completely consistent with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). It can facilitate a two-State solution in the context of the road map and, indeed, is also consistent with previous peace proposals and President Bush's vision. As Israel has declared, we remain committed to a negotiated solution to all permanent status issues that will guarantee peace, security, prosperity and stability for both peoples, as well as secure and defensible borders. As always, we recognize that no permanent peace agreement can be imposed; it must be agreed by negotiations between the parties. That is also set out very clearly in the statements issued in connection with the disengagement plan, for those who have taken the care to read them.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“Sharon has declared, it is an opportunity to restart the road map process, to which Israel remains committed. Prime Minister Sharon's bold initiative deserves the support of the international community and of this Council, and we are grateful for the many expressions of support we have received. As the Secretary-General's Special Coordinator recently announced before the Council, the proposal is a step that should be welcomed by all. In the absence of a peace partner, Israel has been compelled to propose that unprecedented initiative itself, but it hopes and plans to implement it in a coordinated fashion that will ensure stability and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike, provide a sound humanitarian infrastructure and rekindle the peace process.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“It grossly distorts reality and it seeks to bully the Council to score political points. It is a document that any fair- minded Council should be ashamed to adopt and that any fair-minded delegation should be ashamed to sponsor or even circulate. As I have repeatedly said, there cannot be peace and terror. There cannot be peace and Hamas. But as the struggle against terrorism continues and at considerable risk, Prime Minister Sharon has launched a bold and unprecedented initiative to bring new hope and opportunity to the peace process. The disengagement plan, when approved, will lead to the evacuation of settlements and military installations in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. This move is not required by the road map, but, as Mr.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“The entire world, including the Arab world, knows that Hamas is the enemy of peace and stability in the region and that there is a clear obligation to dismantle that terrorist organization. Although politics and rhetoric may silence this, the defensive targeting of Mr. Rantisi is no doubt a relief for many innocent Palestinians whose life he endangered by the strategy of terrorism and the rejection of peace he so defiantly championed. It should be greeted with great relief by the Palestinians themselves that such a person is no longer among them, endangering not just us, but them too. The text that some have proposed today is yet another example of misrepresentation and double standards. It focuses yet again on the response to terrorism rather than on the terrorism itself.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“The people who have brought bloodshed to the streets of Israel, New York, Bali, Manila and Madrid cannot expect to make their own terrorist hornets' nests a sanctuary. In line with Security Council resolutions 1368 (2001), 1373 (2001), 1377 (2001) and others, this action makes clear that those who harbour or tolerate terrorists, let alone those who forge alliances with them, must be held accountable. The Palestinian leadership and other regimes in our region cannot brazenly violate international law by supporting terrorists and then seek to deny Israel the right to protect itself against them - a right guaranteed under that very same law. The entire world knows that Hamas is a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel and of the hopes of peace by the deliberate massacre of innocent civilians.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“In these circumstances, such actions are wholly consistent with international law and we have little doubt that nations similarly faced with such a horrific choice would act accordingly and, indeed, have done so - and are doing so - with the support or acquiescence of the international community. The targeting of Mr. Rantisi was not merely a necessary defensive act to prevent ongoing and planned attacks against innocent civilians. It is part of the global struggle against terrorism that has been thrust upon all of us. It sends a clear message that those who deal in terrorism - those who have exported airplane hijackings, kidnappings and suicide bombings to the world - will have no immunity.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“But in the absence of any cooperation from the Palestinian Authority and any viable means of arrest, Israel is sometimes left no choice but to target those who plan, orchestrate and execute the murder of our innocent civilians. We are engaged in an armed conflict against terrorism of an unparalleled scale, magnitude and brutality. It is not good enough to affirm in theory Israel's right to defend itself in this conflict, but then in practice seek to deny us the right to specifically target those illegal combatants directly responsible, as well as their command and control structure. We do so in a manner that is both necessary and proportionate, and when no other realistic option of detention or prevention exists.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“He developed alliances with terrorist groups operating around the world, supported by regimes in Syria and Iran, and was committed to fostering terrorism in Iraq and throughout the Western world. A paediatrician by training, this doctor led the campaign to mobilize women and children for use in homicide bombings. He turned his craft from the healing of children to the killing of children. He was indeed the doctor of death. Rantisi was a trader in death, a doctor of death, and no one should be surprised that he paid the price for it. For those who criticize his targeting as extrajudicial, let me say that we are sensitive to those concerns. Had it been possible to arrest Mr. Rantisi, while minimizing harm to civilian life, Israel would have done so, as is its usual practice.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“That is what the international community demands in the global fight against terrorism. If there is something extrajudicial here, it is the total refusal of the Palestinian leadership - for years - to act against terrorism, in violation of every judicial standard. I need not repeat the litany of cold-blooded murder which Mr. Rantisi was responsible for and was intent on continuing. He was a radical terrorist leader that joyfully and publicly gloated and celebrated over the murder of innocent men, women and children whom he sent to be killed. He sought to destroy any peace initiative and called for the destruction of Israel by force of arms. He believed that violence was the only option.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“On any fair and balanced account, those acts of terror should be the focus of the Council's special and specific attention, not the acts of self-defence necessary to prevent them. Were the current Palestinian leadership a genuine partner in peace, defensive actions such as the one Israel was recently compelled to undertake would not have been necessary. The Palestinian obligation to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, arrest terrorists, confiscate illegal weapons and stop incitement is as obvious and fundamental a legal imperative as it is a moral one. Under the road map, Security Council resolutions, signed agreements and international law, the Palestinian Authority is required to arrest murderers like Rantisi - not give them protection and safe haven.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“Just hours before the targeted counter-terrorist operation against Mr. Rantisi, the organization he headed claimed responsibility, together with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, for yet another suicide attack - this time at the Erez Crossing, where Palestinian workers enter Israel daily. The attack killed 20-year-old Kfir Ohayon of Eilat, a guard at the crossing, and injured several others. It was perpetrated by an individual who had been given a licence to work in Israel by us, and against a person whose primary task was to facilitate the entry of Palestinian workers to their place of employment and allow them to make a living. In recent days, there have also been repeated and indiscriminate Qassam rocket fire at civilian communities in Israel and continued attempts to perpetrate acts of terrorism.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the Presidency and express to you our appreciation for your fair and very wise stewardship of the Council. Today, the Jewish people and the people of Israel commemorate Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. I know that all delegates will join with me in commemorating the memory of the 6 million victims of the Holocaust, innocent Jews who suffered unspeakably at a time when there was no Jewish State to defend them. It is with great regret that the Council has been compelled to convene again on this day, not to condemn the murder of innocent civilians by organizations such as Hamas but to denounce the demise of a key architect of those massacres. As we have said time and again, this pattern of activity does no good to the prestige and reputation of the Council.”
2004-04-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4945 (2004) · source
“Therefore, I think that the Members of the United Nations and the members of the Security Council should realize, sadly, that until the Palestinians realize that they are on the wrong side of the fight against terrorism and decide to choose the path of peace and reconciliation - as has been offered to them by Israel time and time again and as has been rejected by them time and time again - they will, sadly, probably not be Member of the United Nations for a long time to come.”
2004-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4934 (2004) · source
“I am sorry that I have to take the floor again, but I must say that I am somewhat dismayed, bewildered and shocked by the audacity of an entity that has given the world aeroplane hijackings and hostage kidnappings - and that, in fact, invented suicide bombings - trying to give us a lesson in democracy, human rights, international law and law and order. There is a very clear connection between Palestinian terror and international terror. Terror is terror. There is no difference between Palestinian terror and international terror, as there is no difference between Hamas and Al Qaeda.”
2004-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4934 (2004) · source
“Unless and until they are confronted and defeated, progress towards a two-State solution under the road map will be held hostage.”
2004-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4934 (2004) · source
“If the international community is serious about advancing the peace process for both Israelis and Palestinians, we must stop tolerating initiatives that pretend that the defensive response to terrorism is worse than terrorism itself. We cannot send the message that terrorists will be immune and satisfy ourselves with routine condemnations. The Security Council has a responsibility to the victims of terrorism and to the cause of peace. It cannot meet that responsibility by devoting meeting after meeting to pandering to Arab Group initiatives that seek to demonize Israel and ignore Palestinian obligations. The Council can only meet its responsibility by addressing the reality that those Palestinian terrorist organizations and the regimes and leaders sponsoring them are the true enemies of peace.”
2004-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4934 (2004) · source
“We hope that those Council members that were prepared to support this distorted text that was presented to them will have the decency in the future to support draft resolutions that focus on the kind of horrific acts of Palestinian terrorism for which Yassin and his co-conspirators have been responsible. The fight against terrorism and for peace continues. Only yesterday, we all witnessed, with horror and disbelief, the abyss into which the Palestinian strategy of terrorism and murder has descended. Not for the first time, a young Palestinian boy no older than 14 years old was used as a suicide bomber. This proves once again, sadly, that there will probably not be peace until the Palestinians learn to love their children more than they hate us.”
2004-03-25 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4934 (2004) · source