Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s tweet about getting support from 25 countries was refuted by two Bosnian leaders, indicating that their country cannot back Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians.
On May 16, Netanyahu thanked countries for supporting his government’s action against Hamas in a tweet. “Thank you for resolutely standing with [israel] and supporting our right to self-defense against terrorist attacks,” he said.
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Thank you for resolutely standing with ?? and supporting our right to self defense against terrorist attacks.— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 15, 2021
The tweet included the icons of flags of many countries including the United States, Albania, Australia, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Germany, the Czech Republic among others.
Interestingly, the Bosnian leadership was quick to reject the claims. The country’s Member of the Presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic wrote in a Facebook post:
“My message to (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu is that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not and cannot support the killings of innocent civilians in Gaza by Israeli military forces.”
However, this came with a little surprise for foreign policy experts who say that support for Israel has always been a controversial topic for countries globally. Many countries, including India, have not supported the Israeli stance outrightly.
Even, the Bosnian Minister of Foreign Affairs Bisera Turkovic took to Twitter and wrote that her country “supports only peace and efforts to reach a just solution for [Palestine and Israel].”
She stated further that “Violence does not lead to lasting peace and stability. We call for an immediate end to the attacks in which innocent people are killed, and we support a solution involving the two countries, believing that only negotiations can bring about lasting peace. We also support initiatives that would help stop the wave of violence.”
Australia Condemns
Apart from Bosnia & Herzegovina, the Australian Foreign Minister also issued a statement, prior to Netanyahu’s message asking “all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that destabilize peace.”
The Australian Government is deeply concerned by the escalating violence in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank and unequivocally calls on all leaders to take immediate steps to halt violence, maintain restraint, and restore calm.
We also call on all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that destabilize peace. Violence is no solution. Rocket attacks and indiscriminate acts that fuel the cycle of violence and bloodshed are never justified.
Respect for law and order is paramount, and we urge all parties to refrain from violent or provocative acts. We call for a halt to actions that increase tensions, including land appropriations, forced evictions, demolitions and settlement activity.
The focus of all parties to the conflict must be on a return to direct and genuine peace negotiations as soon as possible, with a view to defining a just, durable, and resilient peace agreement.
