Reporter
matthew.chin@guardian.co.tt
Non-resident Ambassador for the Embassy of Israel in T&T, Itai Bardov, has expressed anger and disappointment over remarks made by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres during a Security Council meeting on October 24.
Guterres had said that the attacks by Hamas on October 7 “did not happen in a vacuum” and that he was left shocked by the misinterpretation from Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, who considered his words as justification of terrorism. Erdan is calling for the immediate resignation of Guterres.
“We are extremely disappointed and upset with the Secretary General’s remarks because he gave an excuse for the vicious barbaric attack. He is misinformed and has no understanding of the conflict and the history of it. If you can say that that means you do not understand the facts on the ground. BardovIs raping, killing, the beheading of babies a part of freedom fighting? That is why we are extremely angry and upset with these remarks,” Ambassador Bardov said.
Yesterday, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution put forward by Jordan for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all civilians, and the protection of civilians and international institutions.
Of the 120 members who voted in favour, 12 Caricom members, including Trinidad and Tobago, supported the resolution, while 45 members abstained, including Australia and Canada and 14 rejected it, most notably the United States and Israel. The ambassador has yet to comment on the resolution that was described by the UN as a “humanitarian truce.”
In their most recent statement on the war, Caricom said “the ongoing harsh conditions under which the Palestinians live in veritable colonialism and Israel’s sense of insecurity will contribute to a cycle of violence until those realities are definitively addressed.”
Bardov said Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne did not reach out to him following the Hamas attack on October 7.
“I have been in touch with foreign ministers from the Caribbean but not in direct contact with (Dr Browne). We are channelling our concerns and views with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago. I think it’s very important that countries should be in contact with each other and get a good perspective from everyone involved,” he said.
Bardov said Caricom should be extremely worried about Venezuela’s relationship with Iran and other regimes that disregard basic human rights. Venezuela is Trinidad and Tobago’s closest Latin American neighbour.
“Venezuela enables Iran to operate in their own country and other countries in the region. When we speak about Iran, we’re also talking about Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon. They are fully funded by Iran.
“Caricom has to be extremely worried about this kind of relationship between countries such as Venezuela and Iran, which has a close relationship with North Korea,” he said.
When he was asked whether something as powerful as an ideology could be changed or transformed through violence, the ambassador said his focus is not on ideology but on the preservation of Israel’s future in the region and the world.
“The fight against ISIS was against ideology. They still exist but they are not the same threat they were a decade ago. I don’t know if we can eradicate an ideology – that is not our intention. We cannot control people’s minds.
“When we had our children raped, beheaded, and murdered in one of the worse terrorist attacks in history, we understood that we cannot allow Hamas to continue being a threat to Israel. The ideology of Hamas is a religious organisation, not a national organisation. Israel is a problem for Hamas because it is a non-Muslim entity in the Middle East – we are infidels, and so are Christians. The objective is to get rid of the regime and its ability to threaten our civilians in the future. Unfortunately, this can only be done militarily,” Bardov said.
Responding to concerns that the war can escalate into a wider regional conflict involving other Middle Eastern countries, the Ambassador said he does not expect many Middle Eastern countries to get involved with the Jewish state.
“Many of the (Arab states) know that Hamas is a threat to a region. The biggest threat is connected – Iran and Hezbollah. We have sent them very clear messages, ‘Do not intervene,’ because we are not looking for a regional issue. Things can absolutely deteriorate, and they know that if they intervene Israel will have to react forcefully,” he said.