Israeli Education Minister: World, Led by Trump, Must Respond to ‘Chemical Massacre’ in Syria
by Barney Breen-Portnoy
A member of the Israeli government is urging a global response to a suspected chemical weapons attack that took place in a rebel-held town in the Idlib Province of northwestern Syria on Tuesday.
“Children are choking to death,” HaBayit HaYehudi party leader and Education Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted, referring to the incident in Khan Sheikhoun, where at least 58 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded. “The world must act against the chemical massacre in Syria. I call upon President Trump to lead this effort.”
Children are choking to death.
The world MUST ACT against the chemical massacre in Syria.
I call upon President Trump to lead this effort. pic.twitter.com/IQKrHpOH29— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) April 4, 2017
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon stated, “The world cannot be silent in the face of the horrific massacre in Syria and allow this devastation to repeat itself. The UN must act immediately to put an end to the use of any chemical weapons and ensure their removal from Syrian territory. This is the UN’s true purpose and it must fulfill this fundamental responsibility.”
Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog — the head of Israel’s opposition — tweeted, “What is taking place in Syria is a crime against humanity. The United States and the world must lead an aggressive policy to protect the innocent. Legitimizing the Assad regime means supporting a murderous regime.”
מה שמתרחש בסוריה הוא פשע כנגד האנושות.
על ארה”ב והעולם להוביל מדיניות תקיפה להגנה על חפים מפשע. לגיטימציה למשטר אסד היא תמיכה במשטר רצחני.— יצחק הרצוג (@HerzogMK) April 4, 2017
Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin — an ex-IDF intelligence chief and the current director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) — declared on Twitter, “It is time Assad pays for his war crimes. Another chemical attack and the world stays silent!”
1.It is time Assad pays for his war crimes.Another chemical attack and the world stays silent!
— Amos Yadlin (@YadlinAmos) April 4, 2017
“Israel should lead a clear ethical agenda against Iran-Assad-Hezbollah’s war crimes,” Yadlin continued. “This concerns Israel, not only ethically [but] strategically as well. Obama has left a void in 2013, into which entered Russia, ISIS, Hezbollah. Israel should establish a more active policy against the negative developments [on] its northern border.”
Israel has largely tried to stay out of the war that has raged in Syria for more than six years now, with the exception of direct responses to cross-border fire in the Golan Heights region in a number of instances and reported occasional air strikes targeting Hezbollah-bound shipments of advanced weaponry.