Foreign Minister Eli Cohen held a press briefing today (Monday) on the background of the war in the Gaza Strip, and estimated that the international pressure calling on Israel to stop the attacks is expected to increase in the coming weeks.
"Since the beginning of the fighting, we have seen unprecedented international support, which was manifested, among other things, in an air train of solidarity and support visits. So far there have been 45 such visits, including 30 foreign ministers and heads of state - including those of the US, Germany, Great Britain, France and other key countries," said Cohen. "The reason for this is that what happened in Israel reminds the world of a global crisis. It is no longer Muslims who are killing Muslims, but an attack on a country in the Western world. The world is waking up and realizes that this is a different kind of event."
However, Cohen pointed out that "from a political point of view, we recognize that pressure has begun on Israel. The pressure is not very high, but it is on the rise. There are also those who are asking, not publicly, for a cease-fire." In his estimation, the political window is about two or three weeks, after which the pressure is expected to increase.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also addressed the issue of the abductees and said that "this is an unusual event in history, not only of the State of Israel. That is why we decided to appoint Ambassador Alon Roth-Snir to the position of International Coordinator for Release of the Abductees in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His job is to coordinate the political handling of this issue in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to work in cooperation with the other members of the system dealing with the issue. In every meeting I hold with the foreign ministers that I hosted, the families of abductees participated, as well as in my visit to the Security Council and the visit to the European Union in Brussels. The same will be the case in my visit tomorrow to Geneva where I will meet with the president of the Red Cross."
He also noted the political damage caused by the war: "We aim to reduce as much as possible the number of countries that take diplomatic measures against Israel. So far there have been 8 countries that have taken such measures: Bolivia, Turkey, South Africa, Jordan, Colombia, Chile, Honduras And Chad, two of the countries had no ambassador in Israel before the move. We are working to have 2-3 return the ambassadors in the coming days or weeks. The pressure from the other side on other countries to return ambassadors or cut off relations will increase because the military move is not yet at the concluding stage. For this purpose, we prepared a list of about 13-14 uncertain countries with which we are in close contact in order to prevent damage to relations."
In conclusion, Cohen referred to the issue of "the day after the war", as he claimed "we are holding discussions on the issue at the Foreign Ministry. We currently have no interest in discussing with the world the issue of the day after, because that would increase the pressure on Israel."
