Egypt’s ambassador to the United Nations tore into Israel during a Monday speech before the UN Security Council, hours after Jerusalem heaped praise on Cairo for mediating a ceasefire with Palestinian Islamic Jihad that ended a three-day conflict between Israel and the terror group in the Gaza Strip.
While Egypt and other Arab countries that have ties with the Jewish state still traditionally maintain critical lines toward Israel at the UN, the rhetoric employed by Ambassador Osama Abdel Khalek went much further than is generally used publicly by Egyptian officials, particularly in recent years as Israel-Egypt ties have warmed further.
The tongue-lashing also came after Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, made a point of thanking Egypt and its president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, “who were essential in restoring the calm and stability to our region.” A similar message was passed along to the Egyptian leader by Prime Minister Yair Lapid when the two spoke on the phone around the same time that the Security Council session took place on Monday.
Abdel Khalek began his speech before an emergency Security Council session on the weekend of violence between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad by lamenting the “43 martyrs” killed, making no distinction between PIJ fighters and innocent civilians. He also used an incorrect figure for the death count, which stood at 46 as of Monday afternoon, according to UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wenessland, who spoke before the Egyptian ambassador.
The IDF estimated that 11 of those casualties were innocent civilians caught in the line of fire during its airstrikes targeting PIJ fighters. Sixteen Palestinians were killed by failed PIJ rocket launches that landed inside Gaza, according to the Israeli army.