NEW YORK: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations drew widespread approval across Muslim-majority countries on Tuesday after delivering a blistering critique of Israel at a General Assembly session, accusing the Jewish state of occupation, “state terrorism” and persistent violations of international law.
Pakistan Büyükelçisi, BM genel kurulunda israile haddini bildirerek şöyle söyledi:
“israil,mağduriyet numarası yapan, BM kararlarını ihlal eden ve Gazze’de, ve hatta Filistin topraklarında devlet terörü uygulayan bir işgalci ve hayduttur” pic.twitter.com/xDWGZNHrwn
— neyi kaybettiğini hatırla (@neyikaybettik) April 14, 2026
In a strongly worded reply during the Assembly debate, the Pakistani Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said Israel “is an occupier and a brigand that plays the victim card, violates UN resolutions, and practices state terrorism in Gaza and even on Palestinian lands.” He told the chamber that Israel had sought to deflect responsibility by making “baseless assertions” and by pointing fingers at others to mask what he described as its own illegal actions.
“I am obliged to take the floor to respond to some comments,” he said, asserting that the Israeli representative had “perhaps did not listen attentively” to other speakers. He accused Israel of abusing the authority of the UN bodies and of showing “disrespect the sanctity of this Council,” adding that such behaviour had become a recurring pattern.
The ambassador went on to cast Israel as an unrepentant aggressor that ignores international institutions, saying it “does not pay heed to any advice, even from its friends,” and at times even threatens members of the international community, media and humanitarian organisations. “It doesn’t listen to the ICJ or the ICC,” he said, according to Pakistan’s statement to the Assembly.
Pakistan’s envoy also pushed back against Israeli references to an unrelated incident involving Pakistan, calling those remarks “misleading” and politically motivated attempts to justify Israel’s actions. He reiterated Pakistan’s longstanding stance on counterterrorism, noting Islamabad’s role in combating Al Qaeda and its continued commitment to global counterterrorism efforts.
“We cannot accept insinuations from an irresponsible rogue state that is, in fact, the perpetrator of the worst kind of state terrorism that we are witnessing in Gaza and, in fact, in the occupied Palestinian territories for decades,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said, urging the occupying power to re-examine the Security Council’s statement on the situation.
Reaction across the Muslim world to the ambassador’s speech was largely positive, with several diplomats and commentators praising Pakistan’s firm language and its vocal defence of Palestinian rights. Observers said the remarks reflect longstanding frustration among many UN members over what they view as the international system’s failure to secure compliance with resolutions relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It is pertinent to add here that Israel’s mission to the UN has repeatedly defended its actions as self-defence against militant threats and has criticised what it calls selective treatment at the UN. Israeli representatives often point to procedural and substantive disputes at the Assembly and Security Council, and to support from key allies in Washington and elsewhere.
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