Australian date for Israel’s man at the UN

ISRAEL’S outspoken ambassador to the United Nations will be swapping the General Assembly for the JNF when he heads to Australia at the end of next month.

Ron Prosor, who has developed a reputation for refusing to shy away when the Jewish State comes under fire in the public sphere, will address gala dinners in both Melbourne and Sydney.

Just last week, the ambassador launched a blistering attack on the UN over a report that claimed Gaza won’t be “livable” by 2020, and that blamed current hardships on Israel’s blockade.

Stating that a group of researchers on the moon could have produced a more accurate report, Prosor penned a letter in which he wrote: “While Israel’s schoolchildren were taking cover in bomb shelters, the UN released yet another biased report about Gaza. Apparently, the roar of rockets flying out of Gaza has not reached the deaf ears of the UN agencies that produced this report.”

Prosor added that the report’s authors “conveniently failed to mention that Hamas has brutally hijacked Gaza and deliberately targets Israeli civilians in relentless rocket attacks”.

Having previously served as director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, and for four years as ambassador to the UK, Prosor took up his position at the UN in June last year.

Other high-profile roles have included chief of staff to Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom from 2003-4 as well as diplomatic postings to Washington and Bonn.

Michael Naphtali, national president of JNF Australia, said: “To have a speaker of his calibre, such a respected and influential figure in Israel and for world Jewry, as guest speaker at this year’s gala dinner underlines the fundamental importance of JNF in the Israeli landscape.”

The JNF NSW gala dinner is on Monday, November 5. The JNF Victoria gala dinner is on Wednesday, October 31. For more information, visit www.jnf.org.au.

ZEDDY LAWRENCE

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor.