Middle East Monitor / September 16, 2022
Chilean President, Gabriel Boric, yesterday refused to accept the credentials of new Israeli Ambassador, Gil Artzyeli, due to Israel’s killing of Palestinians.
Artzyeli had been scheduled to present his credentials to Boric as a formality, but the Chilean government informed him that the ceremony had been cancelled, before he was instructed to leave.
According to Ynet News, the decision was made “because of Israel killing children” in the recent escalation in the West Bank and increased Israeli military activity against Palestinians.
It comes as Israeli occupation forces killed yet another Palestinian boy in a dawn raid yesterday. Seventeen-year-old Uday Trad Salah was killed when Israeli troops stormed the town of Kafr Dan, in the Jenin district, and shot him in the head.
Salah was one of three Palestinians to be shot. He was declared dead at the scene. The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Salah’s killing raised the number of Palestinians killed this year by Israel to 149, 34 of whom were in Jenin.
Overnight raids by the Israeli army are a near-daily practice in the occupied West Bank. Israel claims that they are essential for intelligence purposes, but rights groups have slammed the practice, insisting that the goal is to oppress and intimidate the Palestinian population and increase State control.
Like military checkpoints and the illegal Separation Wall, insist critics, the raids are part of the DNA of the Apartheid State.
The ceremony in which the new Israeli ambassador is expected to present his credentials has reportedly been pushed back to next month.
Moreover, Artzyeli claims the Chilean Foreign Ministry apologized to him and the Israeli government over what happened.
Chile is home to some half a million Palestinian immigrants, most of whom are Christian.
Boric, who became President last year, is a known supporter of BDS, after he campaigned for a boycott of goods, services and products from illegal Israeli settlements.
____
Israel to reprimand Chile for snubbing its new ambassador to Santiago
September 16, 2022
A diplomatic tussle intensified on Friday after Chile’s President put off accepting the credentials of Israel’s new ambassador to Santiago over the killing in the occupied West Bank of a Palestinian teenager, Reuters reports.
In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned Chilean ambassador, Jorge Carvajal, for what it called a reprimand at a meeting where, it said, “Israel’s response will be made clear.”
The dispute began on Thursday when Chilean Foreign Minister, Antonia Urrejola, informed newly appointed Israeli Ambassador, Gil Artzyeli that Chilean President, Gabriel Boric, was postponing a meeting to accept his credentials until October.
“That’s because today is a sensitive day because of the death of a minor,” a spokesperson from Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a text message, referring to the death of the 17-year-old Palestinian boy that day.
Israel assailed the snub on Friday, with its Foreign Ministry labelling it “puzzling and unprecedented behaviour” and adding in its statement: “This seriously harms the relations between the two countries.”
On Thursday, Artzyeli, the new ambassador, sought to ease tensions following what he said was an “extensive” meeting where Chilean authorities repeatedly apologized.
“Being an Israeli and a Jew, my people have seen worse things in the last 4,000 years,” he told reporters in Santiago. “We’re going to overcome this incident for the good of Chile, the good of Israel and our bilateral relations.”
Separately on Friday, Boric’s move drew praise from the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Hamas Movement in Gaza.
“We welcome the Chilean President’s position, which is in line with international law and resolutions, and we appreciate this position aimed at applying pressure on the Israeli government to stop its ongoing daily crimes against our people,” said Ahmad al-Deek, adviser to the Palestinian Foreign Minister.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed the teenager on Thursday during protests, the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have stoked fears of an escalation.
____
Israel rebukes Chile envoy for cancelling ambassador’s credential ceremony
Middle East Monitor / September 17, 2022
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has summoned Chile’s ambassador to rebuke him after Chilean President Gabriel Boric cancelled the credential ceremony for the new Israeli ambassador to Santiago, Israeli media reported on Friday.
Gil Artzyeli, the new Israeli ambassador, was already at the presidential palace for a scheduled presentation when Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola told him that the ceremony had been postponed until October.
This came following reports passed to Boric about Israel’s killing of a Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
“Israel views Chile’s bizarre and unprecedented behaviour with severity,” Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Emmanuel Nachshon shared on Friday.
“This seriously harms relations between the two countries. Chile’s ambassador to Israel was summoned to the Foreign Ministry director-general on Sunday for a reprimand,” he added.
Boric won the presidency earlier this year, and in a meeting with the Jewish community during his electoral campaign, he called Israel a “murderous state”.
