A day after India stood by Israel and voted against the granting of the status of observer status in UN to the Palestinian-Lebanese organisation ‘Shahed’, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday took to Twitter to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India’s support at the UN.
Thank you @NarendraModi, thank you India, for your support and for standing with Israel at the UN. ????
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 12, 2019
“Thank you @NarendraModi, thank you India, for your support and for standing with Israel at the UN,” Netanyahu tweeted.
Earlier, Maya Kadosh, deputy chief of mission at the Israel embassy in India, had in a tweet thanked India for standing with Israel.
Thank you #India for standing with @IsraelinUN and rejecting the request of terrorist organization “Shahed” to obtain the status of an observer in #UN. Together we will continue to act against terrorist organizations that intend to harm. pic.twitter.com/erHTfuY1A1
— Maya Kadosh (@MayaKadosh) June 11, 2019
Kadosh mentioned that the organisation has links with Hizbullah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that was designated as a terrorist organisation in 1997. “This is a good sign… India was the first country to support us amongst the Asia group, so we are very happy,” she added.
In a rare move, India on Tuesday voted in favour of Israel in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to deny the Palestinian non-governmental organisation ‘Shahed’ the observer status, after Israel said the organisation did not disclose its ties with Hamas.
On 6th June, in a resolution initiated by Israel, the Hamas allied group “The Palestinian Association for Human Rights – Witness” was prevented from receiving a special status at the UN.
The resolution was rejected by an overwhelming majority of 28-14 at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Besides India, the countries which supported the Israeli motion were the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Ghana, Norway, Netherlands, South Korea, Ukraine, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Eswatini, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Paraguay, Philippines, Andora, Togo and Uruguay.
The countries which voted against the motion were Turkey, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Belarus, Angola, Morocco, China and Russia.