Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer says he is disturbed by silence from the Arab leadership about the violence unfolding in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“There is a fundamental difference between what you’re hearing from the Jewish leadership in the country and the Arab leadership of the country,” he told Fox News.
“That is very disturbing.
“All the Jewish leadership in the country, the religious leadership and the political leadership across the political spectrum, has not only not supported these attacks of Jews against Arabs but have condemned them in the most forceful terms.
“Most of the Arab political leaders, or virtually all of them, have been silent on this – you have had a few religious leaders in the Arab sector that have come out, and it’s very important to hear their voice because we have to have leaders speaking clearly and forcefully condemning this act.”
Mr Dermer said Israel could easily “conquer” Gaza but has “no desire” to attack.
He suggested that as Israel “valued life” it didn’t need to be stopped but needed support for the right to defend itself from around the world.
Since the violence began about a week ago, more than 190 people have reportedly been killed in Gaza and 10 in Israel.
On Monday morning the Israel Defense Forces said Hamas had fired 3,100 rockets from Gaza in a week – the “highest daily rate of rocket fire that Israel has faced in the history of the country”.
