Family calls Israel PM ‘enemy’ at captive’s funeral
Hundreds gathered in southern Israel for the funeral of Danish-Israeli captive Itzik Elgarat, whose family levelled sharp criticism at the Israeli prime minister.
His brother said that while it was Hamas that captured him, Netanyahu’s government had failed to save him.
“We fought with all our might [but] we failed,” Daniel Elgarat said in his eulogy, recalling the struggle of the captives’ families to pressure the Israeli government to secure their release.
“Netanyahu defeated us and you did not return from captivity,” he said. “The enemy who caused your death was unfortunately not the one who kidnapped you, but the one who abandoned you.”
Elgarat, then 68 years old, was abducted from the Nir Oz settlement on October 7, 2023, and his body was one of eight returned by Hamas last month under a ceasefire deal.
Trump’s incoming envoy calls UN ‘deep den of anti-Semitism’
Trump’s pick for UN ambassador, Elise Stefanik, has slammed the body over its criticism of Israeli violations of international law.
“We know the United Nations is indeed a deep den of anti-Semitism – infected with the same rampant anti-Israel and anti-American hate and moral rot that has polluted America’s higher education system,” Stefanik told the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a pro-Israel advocacy group.
Stefanik did not provide details to back up her claim, but various UN agencies have documented and denounced Israeli abuses against Palestinians.
Last year, the UN’s top tribunal, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said in an advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories was unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.
The Republican-controlled Senate has not confirmed Stefanik, who remains a member of the House of Representatives, to her UN role.
Some US media reports have suggested that the Republicans are delaying the confirmation process in order to allow the congresswoman to vote on key bills in the House, where Trump’s party has a razor-thin majority.
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