United Nations HQ in New York. Photo: wiki commons.

Israel told the United Nations on Wednesday to worry more about Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, than the state of Israel’s democracy.

The comments followed a statement by United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq demanding the end of Israeli settlements in “Palestinian territory” and the creation of a “viable Palestinian state.”

“It’s incumbent on the new Israeli Government, once formed, to create the conditions for a negotiated final peace agreement with the active engagement of the international community that will end the Israeli occupation and realize the creation of a viable Palestinian State living in peace and security alongside Israel,” said Haq following Israel’s elections on Tuesday that saw a strong victory for Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“This includes the cessation of illegal settlement building in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” Haq continued. “The Secretary-General firmly believes this is also the best and only way forward for Israel to remain a democratic state.”

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor responded to Haq’s statement by reminding the UN that the Jewish state is the only democracy in the Middle East.

“The United Nations may disagree with the policies of the Israeli government, but there is one fact that can’t be disputed – that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East,” Prosor shot back.

Prosor then demanded to know why the UN was not focusing on Hamas or the unusually long tenure of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas:

“If the UN is so concerned about the future of the Palestinian people, it should be asking why President Abbas is in the tenth year of a five-year presidential term, or why Hamas uses the Palestinian people as human shields.”