Amid a deepening feud with the United Nations, Israel will thoroughly review every demand for a visa submitted by a UN official instead of granting such visas automatically, the office of Israel’s ambassador to the UN told Al-Monitor on Thursday.
"Israel, like every other country, is not obliged to issue visas to hostile actors who distort the truth and mislead UN member states, thereby damaging our national security," said the office of Israel’s envoy to the UN Gilad Erdan. "From now on, Israel will not automatically grant visas to UN officials who want to go to Israel."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s office declined to comment on the issue, but a diplomatic source confirmed to Al-Monitor that the issue of visas for UN officials was now under review.
“We have already refused a visa for Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson,” Erdan said this week in an interview on Israeli radio.
