NEW YORK – World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder today urged the Latin American nations that have withdrawn their ambassadors from Israel in protest of its Gaza incursion to return their envoys, and declared that those governments “are disregarding Israel’s right of self-defense and blaming the victim instead putting the responsibility for the violence where it belongs – on the terrorism of Hamas.”
“We believe that Latin American governments could be of great help in combating terrorist organizations, ending the military capability of Hamas, facilitating dialogue, and promoting understanding in the Middle East, all of which would strengthen the safety and security of all nations – including their own,” Lauder said. “Diplomacy is an essential tool for defusing military confrontation, and dialogue between governments promotes peace.”
El Salvador, Chile, Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador have withdrawn their diplomats in the weeks since the fighting started.
Lauder also thanked the government of Paraguay for refusing this week to sign an unbalanced resolution offered by the Mercosur, a trade group of five South American nations.
“President Cartes of Paraguay took a brave stand by refusing to sign the harmful and unbalanced resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict offered by the other Mercosur nations,” said WJC President Ronald S. Lauder. “We thank him for insisting on fairness, which this declaration lacked.”
During a summit in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, the Mercosur -- comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela – four of the bloc issued a statement condemning Israel for “disproportionate” use of force in Gaza. The text did not even mention Hamas, according to press reports. Paraguay’s decision not to join them prevented the statement from becoming a more formal resolution.
Lauder said that WJC “regrets all the deaths in the conflict and fervently hope that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace, which is why we seek the support of the international community for disarming Hamas, which is cruelly using the Palestinian population as human shields for its war machine.”
