The UN has conditioned Israel’s request for an exhibit on the Knesset at the organization’s headquarters in New York on the removal of some content including references to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital Israeli media sources revealed Friday.
The exhibit titled “The Knesset Celebrates 70 — Parliament Shaping Israeli Society” was previously displayed at Ben Gurion Airport in 2019.
According to the Israeli Channel 12 News the Israeli delegation to the United Nations asked to display the exhibit at UN headquarters but was told a number of items would have to be removed.
Among the reportedly objectionable content was an item about a quasi-constitutional Basic Law passed in 1980 that recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s “complete and united capital.”
“Please erase slide 43: According to relevant General Assembly and Security Council decisions the Basic Law: Jerusalem Capital of Israel is not valid from our point of view” the UN was quoted as saying in its instructions.
“This is a most sensitive issue and the information in the slide contradicts international law.”
The sources reported that the UN also instructed Israel to remove text accompanying a photo of the Knesset that describes Jerusalem as “the eternal capital of the Jewish people and their holy city.”
“This quote is not relevant to the picture and its erasure will help prevent contradictions with international law and political sensitivities” the UN reportedly told Israel.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan protested the demands in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and requested the exhibit be displayed without alterations.
“The impertinent demand of the UN to censor the exhibit and remove pictures that reflect our national history is in fact a request to rewrite Israel’s history and we will not agree to that in any way” Erdan said.
