The seats of the Israeli delegation are seen empty after Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan and other members of the delegation walked out of the Security Council chamber in protest during a Security Council debate on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 25, 2023. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, on Tuesday walked out of a Security Council meeting in protest. (Evan Schneider/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
UNITED NATIONS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, on Tuesday walked out of a Security Council meeting in protest.
Erdan said he was outraged by the council's refusal to re-schedule Tuesday's debate on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, as Tuesday is Yom HaZikaron, or Memorial Day, for Israeli fallen soldiers.
Israel made numerous requests to re-schedule the debate, but the Security Council refused to budge, he said. "The decision to nonetheless hold this debate on today -- of all days -- only further proves what Israelis already know and feel about this biased organization."
Erdan said he could not participate in Tuesday's debate, which he called an "absurd farce," on Israel's Memorial Day.
He read out a list of names, which he said were those of fallen Israeli soldiers in the past year, and lit what appeared to be an electric candle in their memory. "This debate disgraces the fallen and Israel will not take part in it," he said.
With those words, he walked out of the Security Council chamber, together with three Israeli officials. ■
Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan (Front) stands up from his seat to walk out of the Security Council chamber in protest during a Security Council debate on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 25, 2023. Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, on Tuesday walked out of a Security Council meeting in protest. (Evan Schneider/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
