Against Protocol, Israeli Deputy FM Spars With Jordanian FM at UN

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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.678506

Hotovely continued with criticism of the Palestinians, saying that while an Israeli child dreams of being an engineer so he can be part of the start-up nation, a Palestinian child dreams of being an engineer so he can prepare explosive devices and perpetrate terror attacks. Hotovely also criticized the address made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, accusing him of incitement on the issue of the Temple Mount when he spoke of Israelis defiling the Aqsa Mosque with their boots. She also cited economic steps Israel has taken for the West Bank Palestinians’ benefit like the granting of work permits.

After Hotovely finished, it was Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh’s turn to speak. Judeh set aside the pages of his prepared speech and reportedly said, “I have a written address but I don’t plan to give it because I can’t not respond to what we’ve heard from the Israeli representative.” According to the sources, Judeh launched into a sarcastic monologue in which he said that Jordan couldn’t take Israel’s security interests more seriously than Israel itself. He said that when Israeli soldiers enter Al-Aqsa with boots it indeed offends the sensibilities of 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world and is liable to set off a religious war.

Judeh then said that from the address of the Israeli deputy foreign minister, one could think that the situation on the West Bank had never been better and that everything was just "hunky-dory." From Hotovely’s words, he added, it seems there is no need for negotiations or a two-state solution; Israel can just make a few economic gestures and all would be well.

The incident became particularly embarrassing when Hotovely interrupted Judeh several times to argue with him. This was contrary to protocol for the meeting, which was not an open discussion but a series of short speeches. One person in the room said that the meeting’s chairman, Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, had to call Hotovely to order twice.

Israeli and foreign diplomatic sources who were present said the exceptional confrontation created a very tense atmosphere at the meeting, whose aim was actually to present the positive steps Israel and the Palestinians had taken in recent months. The incident was the talk of those foreign ministers who attended for hours afterward, the sources said.

Hotovely was unable to contain her hatred of Palestinian children at a UN event.

This is Israel's highest ranking diplomatic official.

Maybe as an encore she could drown puppies in a live demonstration of Israel's goals in Gaza.

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1. 1.5 billion Muslims are going to start a religious war because Israelis set foot near a mosque?

It seems strange that such behavior animates the world's Muslims more than Muslims being actually blown up while praying at a mosque in Nigeria, or Kuwait, or Iraq.

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2. the widespread perception is that the Israelis do not believe in sharing.

let them set foot on the Temple Mount, and the general assumption is that they'll annex the whole damn thing and raise their flag on top of the Dome of the Rock.

It's a reputation the Israelis have done their best to earn.

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3. Understood - but is that really more serious than scores of Muslims being slaughtered daily?

The reaction just seems out of whack.

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4. the Jordanian minister was probably exaggerating. nt

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5. Maybe so

But have you not noticed a stronger reaction to the Temple Mount situation as opposed to what would appear to be much more serious actions against Muslims, even ones taken by Israel (such as the woman who was shot at the checkpoint).

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6. I don't recall Muslim states desecrating Islamic holy sites.

Sure, ISIS and AQ will do that to Shiite sites, but I don't recall, say, Iran doing that to Sunni sites.

There's a mentality in that part of the world that privileges and fetishizes particular pieces of real estate over human life. I don't get it.

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7. That's my point

That Jews praying at an Islamic holy site (and thereby "desecrating" it) is more serious than Muslim states (or non-Muslim states) actually killing Muslims seems really bizarre to me. But there are people of different faiths for whom "holy sites" trumps all else (seems especially true for fundamentalist Muslims and Jews).

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8. If Sunnis insisted on carrying out rituals at the Imam Ali mosque, there'd probably be a

similar reaction.

The Jordanians would have a better argument if they forbade people from stockpiling weapons or potential weapons there, of course.

The fixation on the that piece of territory is odd.

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9. Hotovely is an embarrasment for Israel.

Israel deserves a better government than the current clown parade.

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10. Countries deserve the government they choose.