UN chief reaffirms commitment to strengthening relationship with Israel

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday reaffirmed UN's commitment to strengthening relationship with Israel at a special event marking the 70th anniversary of Security Council resolution 181.

Guterres' Chef de Cabinet, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, read a message on behalf of the secretary-general at the special event in New York, in which he said that since Israel became a Member State of the United Nations in 1949, "our cooperation has come to encompass many areas, from peacekeeping and sustainable development to humanitarian challenges and disaster relief around the world."

The Secretary-General said he is determined to strengthen this relationship and will continue to speak out "against anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, hate speech and the use of anti-Semitic appeals by violent extremist groups to recruit new followers."

He will continue to do his part to help Israelis and Palestinians take the historic steps to achieve a two-state solution and attain the peace that has proven so elusive for so long.

In 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181, which recognized the need to establish a Jewish state and an Arab state in the former British Mandate territory of Palestine. The resolution, which was considered by the Jewish community in Palestine to be a legal basis for the establishment of Israel, and which was rejected by the Arab community, was succeeded almost immediately by violence. Enditem