An Israeli diplomat strongly criticizes the Swiss government's support for a UN resolution condemning human rights violations in Gaza. Israel's Ambassador to Switzerland, Ilan Elgar told the paper SonntagsZeitung on Sunday, that he found Bern's support for the resolution "very problematic, because Switzerland is in this way taking sides against Israel." "We have contacted the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs," he added as reported by AFP.
The diplomat also slammed a Saturday rally in Bern in support of the Palestinians, which called on Switzerland to cut all military ties with Israel. "We must not forget that hundreds of thousands of Israelis have lived for quite a long time in fear and worry of Hamas rockets," he said.
Switzerland is the only Western European country to back the draft resolution, supported by 32 members of the UN Human Rights Council, condemning the "grave human rights violations in the Palestinian territories."
The resolution tabled late on Friday underlined the civilian death toll, especially in Gaza, and called for "the immediate cessation of Israeli military attacks and an end to the launching of crude rockets against Israeli civilians" in a concession to the European Union.
This is while the Swiss foreign ministry rejected Elgar's comments, saying Switzerland's reaction to the events in the Middle East have been "balanced".