Israel Condemns Belizean Governments

Belize has joined a list of countries that have severed diplomatic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.  On Tuesday, the government issued a statement reiterating its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to facilitate humanitarian aid. Belize also announced the suspension of all diplomatic activities in Tel Aviv and the withdrawal of accreditation for Israel’s ambassador. The Briceño administration condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, accusing its defense forces of violating international humanitarian law. Belize’s decision to withdraw its ambassador from Israel follows a trend this week, with several countries taking similar actions due to Israel’s refusal to heed calls for a humanitarian pause in the six-week-long conflict with Gaza-based militant group Hamas. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for pauses in the conflict, vowing to continue military operations in Gaza. Belize’s position is not without criticism. The Opposition says that Belize’s decisions are too extreme. The National Evangelical Association of Belize and the Council of Churches have both said that the government’s decision is too heavy handed. Today, in an exclusive interview with News Five, Israel’s Deputy Director General for Latin America, Jonathan Peled, condemned Belize’s position, saying that Belize has surrendered to terrorists.

Jonathan Peled

Jonathan Peled, Deputy Director General for Latin America, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel

“Well, first of all, we deeply regret this decision by the government of Belize. We believe that this is a one-sided and biased  decision which we are totally against and we believe it’s counterproductive. And, we are seriously concerned that this is a departure from the principles that we believe that believes shares with the democratic free world. And that is to stand very firmly against terrorism in all its forms. And to unilaterally take action against the side that has been attacked. And that is rightfully defending itself is contrary to what we believe is right or the right thing to do. And an endorsement of this kind of the other side is for us unacceptable. This is a very unfortunate, if not evil, way of calling a terrorist organization that calls for the open destruction of the state of Israel that invaded Israel on the 7th of October and slaughtered, tortured, maimed, burned, and raped 1, 400 Israelis  and abducted another 240 of them. We have now in captivity 240 young kids and pregnant women, old men, among them. B the way, 30 kids under the age of six, 31 Latin Americans. So this is not only an Israeli problem, this is an international problem. So I do not understand how anyone can endorse such an action and how anyone can be as ignorant as to call this resistant agreement. Hamas is worse than ISIS. Hamas has been condemned by most of the free world, and we expect Belize to do the same.”