Alon Roth-Snir: Ambassador of Israel to New Zealand voices disapproval with sanctioning of Israeli ministers

An Israeli diplomat is criticising New Zealand's sanctioning two of his country's ministers. 

Our Foreign Minister's barred the two high-ranking politicians from travelling here, following the lead of Australia, the UK, Canada, and Norway.  

Winston Peters says they are extremists who've advocated for violating international law. 

Ambassador to New Zealand, Alon Roth-Snir, says he wishes international allies would instead help work on a ceasefire. 

"We are for talks, we are for dialogues, we are not for putting blame or putting whatever was done yesterday to our ministers."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Too.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
High profile Israeli ministers are now banned from New Zealand.
The Israeli Finance Minister beizilals Motrich and the Security Minister
Atama Bengvia have been banned from multiple countries, sparking backlash
from the United States not particularly happy with us about this.
The Israeli ambassador to New Zealand, Alone Roth is with
us now hail on good evening. Did your government get

(00:21):
any notice before this happened?

Speaker 1 (00:24):
No, no, we were surprised yesterday.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
What do you make of that?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
I think that what we see now is that we
are trying to get some kind of seas fire in
the fight in the Middle East in Gaza and is
very fighting seven fronts on the same time. And I
wish that all parties involved, the international players, would have

(00:51):
helped us to reach this seas fire and to reach
some kind off end to this war and make sol
that this r organization Hamas is not with us. So
we are for discussions, We are for talks. We are
for dialogues. We are not for putting blame or putting

(01:15):
whatever was done yesterday night to our ministers, do.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
You expect that you will get more of these kinds
of sanctions that are targeted at individuals and the government.
As the risk the world becomes increasingly frustrated with Israel.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
You know, we have to look on the bigger issue here.
What is the context. The context is that a year
and a half ago as well was viciously attacked by
a terror organization. Twelve hundred civilians were massacred, raped, taken
into Gaza. Many of them are still in Gaza suffering horrors.

(01:52):
The Palestinian population was taken hostage by a terror organization
called Hamas. And these are the issues that we have
to deal with. It not the composition of the Israeli government.
And I do hope, as I said, the international players
are very important. And this for us is an existential war.

(02:12):
We see an existential threat. You know, we are being
attacked from from Iran, and from Yemen and from a
Gus of course, and he's belind the North, et cetera,
et cetera. And we hope that our friends, especially our
democratic friends, will help us to go forward and to
reach what we really want to reach, and this is peace.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
How are the democratic friends supposed to help you? What
can I what can I actually do practically?

Speaker 1 (02:39):
I you know, I think that there is intelligence in
every government and in empery place. And I see, for example,
what our American friends are doing with us. I see
the proposals that are coming time and again to the table.
And by the way, is where always said yes to
this propose, also even the ones that were more problematic

(03:02):
for US and the other side. Hamas, in a serial
kind of answer, answered negatively. So if you ask me
what should be done the international community, especially the democratics,
that democracies should put pressure on Hamas, not on Israel.

(03:24):
Israel really wants peace. Israel shows it. The Israeli culture
is the culture of life, not the culture of death.
We want peace, but we can't have a terror organization,
armed terror organization on our southern border. We saw on
the seventh of October what happened, and we still have
dozens of Israelis that are suffering, horrible suffering in their tunnels.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
You guys must be aware, I mean, you're smart enough,
obviously as diplomats, to be aware of the fact that
it is becoming increasingly difficult for the world to support you.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Right again, the question is not to support Israel or not.
The question is much bigger. The question is whether we
want to show terrorists this time in the Middle East,
in the south of Israel, but tomorrow it will be
elsewhere that they can fight with lies and with embedding
themselves into their own population, civilian population, and making sure

(04:21):
that they are liked in the world, because the world
is saying, well, Israel is doing harm to this population.
If this is the example that is going to win,
all of us are in great danger and Israel is
today's suffering the world that will determine whether terrorism is

(04:41):
going to win or whether the idea of life, democracy
and judicial systems that are the strongest and decide whatever
is being done, are winning. And for the time being,
unfortunately we don't see it enough.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
Alon Roth, Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand. For more from
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