MIDDLE EAST:A senior Israeli official yesterday accused the UN's top humanitarian envoy, Sir John Holmes, of putting Israel on a par with terrorists and of failing to acknowledge that Israelis were victims in the 60-year conflict with Palestinians.
Aaron Abramovich, director general of Israel's foreign ministry, said Mr Holmes's description of the conflict as a "vicious circle of violence" created an "analogy between the terrorists and those who are defending themselves against terror".
Mr Holmes made the comments on Sunday while visiting Sderot, a southern Israeli town near Gaza's perimeter that suffers daily attacks from makeshift rockets launched by Palestinian militants. Since 2001 rocket attacks have killed 13 Israelis, according to the Israeli police. Mr Abramovich also accused Mr Holmes of potentially emboldening terrorists and undermining the faltering peace process.
"[ The comments] may unwittingly encourage terrorists to believe that the international community will exert pressure on Israel, instead of dealing with the roots of the violence," Mr Abramovich said in a statement after a tense 45-minute meeting between the two men.
Mr Holmes met Mr Abramovich after being denied a meeting with Israel's foreign and defence ministers.
Mr Holmes responded in a press conference, saying: "It would be very hard to construe from what I said anything that would be encouraging terrorism." He also repeated his criticism that Israel's blockade on Gaza was an act of "collective punishment" which is an infringement of international law.