Thread by @HillelNeuer

Hamas in Gaza just fired rockets at Israeli cities of Ashdod & Ashkelon, injuring a 62-year-old man in the torso & a 28-year-old man in the limbs.

Peace accords were just signed between Israel & two Arab states.

UN rights chief @mbachelet ignores all the above, attacks Israel.

I took the floor at the United Nations:

Madam President,

We meet on a historic day. For the past century, the Middle East has been the scene of war, bloodshed, enmity and suffering.

In the Arab-Israeli conflict, hostilities included deadly wars in 1948, ‘56, ‘73, and ‘82...

as well as other deadly wars of attrition and terror. In Israel and Arab countries, an estimated 230,000 men, women and children were injured or lost their lives.

Worldwide, the conflict sparked fears of a clash between the nuclear-armed superpowers, while the Arab Oil Embargo..

of 1973 shocked the global economy, quadrupled the price of oil, and triggered a worldwide energy crisis. Those applying this embargo included Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Madam President,

Today is a historic day. In the 20th century, a total of two peace accords...

were achieved between Israel and Arab states — Egypt in 1979, and Jordan in 1994.

Yet today, in one day, that number will double. Only moments from now, on the White House Lawn, both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain will sign peace agreements with Israel.

The three countries have already begun speaking of a new era — of peace, normalization, mutual cooperation, trade, tourism, prosperity and hope.

The peace agreements have been welcomed by countries around the globe, including Egypt, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, which itself...

announced that it will allow overflight rights to planes flying to and from Israel.

Today is indeed a day of hope.

But I am confused.

If the United Nations and this Human Rights Council truly care about human rights and peace, why did the United Nations Human Rights Chief...

just speak here, making numerous references to the Middle East, yet without mentioning once this historic moment of peace and hope?

Why, instead, did she only point the finger of blame at one side — at Israel?

Why did she not mention the peace agreements being signed today in Washington?

Does this Human Rights Council truly want peace and human rights for everyone?

Why does the Agenda of the council single out only one state, Israel?

Why are half the condemnatory resolutions of this council targeting only one state, Israel?

Why does this council's expert on the Palestinian territories examine only Israel's actions, while turning a blind eye to the abuses of Hamas and Islamic Jihad?

On this historic day, when Arab countries and Israel come together in peace, the question before the United Nations is a crucial question: Do they truly want peace, do they truly want human rights?