Ambassador Erdan: 'UN Nakba event destroys any chance of peace'

The United Nations General Assembly will be holding an event on Monday marking what it calls the "Nakba," Arabic for "catastrophe," and the Palestinian term for the establishment of the state of Israel. Ahead of the event, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, sent a personal letter to all UN ambassadors calling on them to boycott the anti-Israel event.

"On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel declared its establishment in line with the United Nations’ 1947 Partition Plan. The Arab states, including the Palestinians who lived in Israel, rejected the Partition Plan, and immediately following Israel’s declaration of independence, five Arab armies invaded Israel in order to obliterate the nascent state," the letter opened, adding: "75 years later, on Monday, May 15, the United Nations will commemorate the momentous occasion of Israel’s independence, not by celebrating Israel and its accomplishments, but rather by holding a special event in the General Assembly branding Israel’s establishment as the Nakba – the catastrophe in Arabic. READ MORE