Netanyahu Accuses UN Chief of 'Giving Terror a Tailwind'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back at UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said Tuesday that it was "human nature" for oppressed people to react to occupation, saying his statement helped justify terror attacks.

"The UN secretary general's comments give terror a tailwind. There is no justification for terror," Netanyahu said. "The Palestinian murders do not want to build a country – they want to destroy a country, and say so openly. They want to murder Jews wherever they may be, and say so openly. They do not murder for peace and they do not murder for human rights."

The prime minister added: "The UN has long lost its neutrality and moral power, these comments by the secretary general do little to improve its standing."

Addressing the UN Security Council's periodic Middle East debate, Ban condemned rocket fire from militant groups in Gaza into Israel and called for an end to incitement, but said that "As oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it is human nature to react to occupation."

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Tuesday that Ban's comments were "harming the global fight led by Israel against terrorism," and added that his words were justifying further attacks. "Whether in Paris or Otniel, terror is the same terror," she said.

MK Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, also responded to Ban's comments, saying that "terror against innocent people cannot be justified and explanations must not be given, it is inconceivable that someone – certainly not the UN security general – will say it is the result of something.

Ban urged both sides to act now "to prevent the two-state solution from slipping away forever," adding that progress toward peace between requires that Israel freeze its settlement-building, which he called "an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community."

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