Speaking from Israel President Anastasiades denounced the “attacks on the State of Israel that are threatening the security and territorial integrity of the country either from terrorist organizations or states that directly or indirectly support these organizations.” These are statements similar to the ones made by the DISY President in 2016 which provoked a diplomatic incident with the Palestinians.

We remind the President and the Government that the State of Israel is an occupation power in Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights. It is systematically colonizing the occupied Palestinian territories in violation of international law and numerous UN Resolutions and Decisions. The State of Israel is responsible for the Wall of Shame, which was also denounced in an opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. It has been implementing a blockade for many years on the Gaza Strip with incalculable humanitarian consequences, in violation of international law and despite the appeals issued by the United Nations. It is responsible for mass violations of the human rights of the Palestinians, but also for the demolition of houses and buildings funded by the EU. It is responsible for the arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of children as documented in the reports published also by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Finally, Israel has a nuclear arsenal for decades, while it is one of the few countries in the world that is not a party to the UN Non-Proliferation Treaty.

If the President of the Republic did not want to refer to these realities, he should at least confine himself to expressing positions of principles that the Republic of Cyprus had adhered to for decades on the Middle East issue. He should have supported the solution of the problem on the basis of the Resolutions of the UN providing for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the 1967 borders next to Israel.

Cyprus has no interest at all in acting as Netanyahu’s and Trump’s advocate or in undermining its own credibility when invoking international law and UN Resolutions. Cyprus has an interest in building and deepening its international relations with all the states of the region and the world on the basis of international law.