Israel calls on Security Council to condemn terrorist attack in Tel Aviv – Letter from Israel

Letter dated 8 June 2016 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council I am writing to inform you of a barbaric terror attack committed against the people of Israel. Tonight, in Sarona Market, a crowded shopping centre in the heart of Tel Aviv, as Israeli families were out enjoying a summer evening, two Palestinians from the Hebron area launched a shooting spree. As of the time of the present letter, four innocent people were dead and others were clinging to life. The terrorists chose a popular restaurant, took their seats among unsuspecting people, and then stood up and proceeded to open fire indiscriminately, until they were stopped and captured by Israeli security forces.

The carnage on the streets of Tel Aviv tonight was no random act of terror. It was a premeditated and coordinated attack, calculated to cause the greatest damage possible to as many victims as possible. Today’s attack was a clear escalation and demonstrates that, as the international community stands by in silence, the attacks continue and grow in severity. Since the current wave of attacks began, 38 people have been killed. How many more will lose their lives before the Security Council clearly condemns those attacks in no uncertain terms?

The Secretary-General said in his statement tonight, condemning the attack, that there was no justification for terrorism or for the glorification of those who committed such heinous acts, and he called upon the Palestinian leadership to live up to its responsibility to stand firmly against violence and the incitement that fuelled it.

As the Secretary-General and his envoy condemn such acts of terror, we expect this Council not to remain silent.

This Council must treat all acts of terror in the same manner, regardless of their motivation, whenever or by whomsoever they are committed. I reiterate my call for the Council to unequivocally condemn this murderous Palestinian attack and to speak out against the alarming trend of institutionalized incitement and glorification of terror, which leads to horrific incidents such as this.

I should be grateful if you would have the present letter distributed as a document of the Security Council.