Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a ceremony at Ben-Gurion airport for the departure of an Israeli aid delegation to Ukraine. Photo: Haim Zach / GPO

i24 News – The international community should not, knowingly or unwittingly, serve the agenda of terrorist groups, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Saturday told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a phone conversation.

The leader was referring to international criticism of Israel’s efforts to curb Palestinian rioting at the flashpoint Temple Mount site in Jerusalem.

“Israel uses force to restore order, in the face of people preparing stones and Molotov cocktails in advance to use inside the mosque,” he said, referring to the Temple Mount. “If he didn’t, it would prevent tens of thousands of Muslims from praying.”

Bennett likewise expressed his disappointment at the lack of an official UN condemnation of the rocket attacks on Israel by Gaza Strip-based Palestinian terrorists.

The two also discussed Guterres’s planned trip to meet the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, as well as efforts to end the bloodshed in Ukraine.

Guterres is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, then Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday.