Ambassador Matthew Rycroft CBE, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, this week strongly condemned violence against Israelis in recent terror attacks, and well as deploring the “unending cycle of poisonous rhetoric and incitement”.
In his speech at the UN Security Council, Ambassador Rycroft condemned the truck-ramming terror attack in Jerusalem this month, stating: “Let me take this opportunity to condemn that horrific terrorist attack and offer my sincere condolences to the four victims and their families”.
He underlined: “There simply can be no justification for this kind of terrorism. The United Kingdom urges the authorities to take appropriate action against those who commit such crimes. And we call upon Hamas, and other terrorist groups, permanently to end their violence and rocket fire against Israel”.
Condemning Palestinian Authority incitement, Ambassador Rycroft said: “At the root of this violence lies a seemingly unending cycle of poisonous rhetoric and incitement. The British Government strongly condemns the use of racist, anti-Semitic and hateful language. We deplore incitement wherever it comes from”.
He concluded by reiterating the UK’s support for a two-state solution and called on the Palestinian leadership to “implement the recommendations of the Quartet Report and continue their efforts to tackle terror and incitement, strengthen institutions, and develop a sustainable economy”.
