Israel Declares U.N. Chief António Guterres Persona Non Grata

Israel Declares U.N. Chief António Guterres Persona Non Grata

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the United Nations secretary general had not condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel in strong enough terms.

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By Matthew Mpoke Bigg

Israel has barred the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, from entering the country, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday, criticizing him for failing to forcefully condemn Iran’s latest missile attack.

Mr. Katz said that Mr. Guterres had been declared persona non grata, a rare diplomatic designation that appeared to reflect broader Israeli anger at the United Nations that has increased since the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel last October. The Israeli government has said U.N. officials, including Mr. Guterres, have failed to criticize attacks against Israel in strong enough terms.

“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil,” Mr. Katz said in a statement on Wednesday. “Israel will continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity with or without António Guterres.”

Mr. Guterres has repeatedly condemned the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 and demanded that all hostages taken from Israel that day be released. He has also repeatedly called for a cease-fire in Gaza and criticized what he called the collective punishment of Palestinians in the enclave.

Following the Iranian missile attack against Israel on Tuesday — which was largely thwarted — Mr. Guterres wrote in a post on social media: “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation. This must stop. We absolutely need a cease-fire.”

It was not clear whether Mr. Katz’s statement was a direct response to that post by Mr. Guterres.

The Israeli government, which had previously called on Mr. Guterres to resign, has also said that the main U.N. agency that aids Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, UNRWA, employs many people who are linked to Hamas and other militant groups, and has called for the agency to be disbanded.

The United States and other governments have condemned Iran for the attack on Tuesday — which Tehran said was in retaliation for the assassinations of leaders of its proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah — and said they would stand by Israel.

The U.N. Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday, in part to discuss the threat of a wider Middle East war.

Our Coverage of the Middle East Crisis

• Iran Attacks Israel: Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, an attack that sharply escalated the conflict between Israel and Iran and threatened to engulf the Middle East in all-out war.
• Israel Weighs Retaliation: Security analysts and former officials said the damage Israel had inflicted on Hezbollah in Lebanon had stripped Iran of much of its deterrence against a wider Israeli attack.
• Tel Aviv Shooting: Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a light rail train in Tel Aviv, killing at least seven people and injuring several others. The Israeli police called the attack an act of terrorism.
• Israel Invades Lebanon: The Israeli military began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, targeting what it said was Hezbollah military infrastructure in villages close to the Israel-Lebanon border.
• Lebanese Government’s Absence: Already crippled by years of economic decline, political paralysis and other crises, Lebanon has little but its own citizens’ grit to survive the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.