Israel’s ambassador to Malta has said the country should be part of a coalition to fight terrorism but stopped short of suggesting it abandons its neutrality.

Ze’ev Boker said “it should be clear, even to the neutral Malta, that the war against terrorism should be the necessity of the international community, including Malta”.

However, he stressed he was “not saying Malta should lose its neutrality but be part of a coalition to fight against terrorism”. The ambassador did not elaborate on what level of involvement he thought the country should undertake.

Boker was speaking to Times of Malta during a recent visit to the country when he accompanied families of hostages held by Hamas as they attended meetings with high-ranking politicians and attended a conference on anti-Semitism.

Asked to respond to a recent statement by Malta’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vanessa Frazier that “tent poles, chemotherapy drugs and basic commodities are being blocked from entering Gaza”, he disagreed but would not be drawn into criticism of Frazier.

“I’m not going to quarrel with the Maltese ambassador to the United Nations, it’s not my role. We brief members of the [UN] Security Council, including Malta... [including] the top level of your foreign ministry and parliament,” he said.

“We are supplying Gaza with full humanitarian assistance... What your ambassador at the UN is saying is not up to me; I’m a diplomat, she’s a diplomat. My style is to firstly speak with a decision-maker before commenting.”

Boker said that, while no army was immune from mistakes, he was “sure there is no policy of obstructing [aid]”.

'Tragic mistake'

But mistakes are something the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have been forced to face up to recently after an Israeli air strike targeted a World Central Kitchen convoy earlier this month, leaving seven aid workers dead.

Calling the incident a “tragic mistake”, the ambassador said errors made by two military commanders, which led to the incident, should never have happened.

“Why, for God’s sake, would the IDF target civilians who came to help,” he asked, describing the aid workers as being on a “sacred mission” in Gaza. According to the UN, more than 220 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict.

Boker said his country was committed to preserving moral values and stressed “a nation that suffered the Holocaust would never dare to intentionally harm another nation”.

But Israel’s assertions that it is committed to peace have been called into question in recent weeks after an air strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria, widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, left 16 people dead, including two Iranian generals.

When asked about the incident, Boker stressed his country had never claimed responsibility for the attack and warned against accepting Iran’s narrative blaming the country.

Accusing Iran of supplying groups hostile to Israel, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, the ambassador said he expected Malta and others in the UN Security Council to make Iran “pay the diplomatic price” for their actions.

There is a change, and not for the positive, in the United States’ attitude to Israel

Boker stressed Iran’s actions were also harming Malta’s economy, which he said had been “seriously damaged” by shipping disruptions caused by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

The Yemen-based group are widely believed to be supplied by Iran, which has been accused of sending missiles to the region.

Contacted on Monday for a reaction to Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend – some, the ambassador said, had fallen close to his offices at Israel’s foreign ministry – he called it a “flagrant attack” and stressed Israel’s right to self-defence.

However, while saying he “had no idea” about a possible Israeli response, the ambassador stressed Iran had broken “all international norms” by attacking Israel and said its “so-called pretext” for the action – the alleged Israeli air strike in Damascus – was not even proportionate to the scale of Iran’s attack.

Biden comments and Hamas’ leaders

Responding to criticism of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by US President Joe Biden last week, who said he thought his Israeli counterpart was making a “mistake” in his handling of Gaza, Boker admitted cracks were beginning to show in the two country’s relationship. 

“There is a change, and not for the positive, in the United States’ attitude to Israel, and, as a citizen of Israel, I am concerned, yes. I do follow the statements,” he said, adding the Israeli government was doing its “upmost” to maintain good relations with the US.

But with the war in Gaza into its seventh month and casualties in the Palestinian enclave topping 33,000 according to local health officials, why is Israel not doing more against Hamas’s leadership while continuing an increasingly controversial military campaign?

Because, Boker claims, while, last year, Israel’s leadership said all members of the terrorist group were “dead men walking” both in and out of Gaza, senior Hamas officials, including political leader Ismail Haniyeh, continue to live in luxury in Qatar.

Referencing the recent meetings held between Israeli families of hostages held by Hamas and senior Maltese officials, Boker said some family members had asked Malta to “put pressure on Qatar” but questioned the effectiveness of direct action against Hamas’s leaders.

“We want the abductees back home. If we pinpointed these arch-terrorists sitting in Qatar, how would we negotiate and bring the abductees back home?... War against terrorism is very complicated; it’s full of dilemmas.”

Palestine statehood and UN membership

Earlier this month, Palestine relaunched its bid to become a UN member State. What is Boker’s response to the move?

“Even during this time of the war, people want to believe that they can live in peace with our Palestinian neighbours. But the way to get to peace is through direct negotiations; not a forced formula,” he said, calling it “not constructive to real peace efforts”.

Commenting on recent developments in Europe, which saw Malta, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia announce they were willing to recognise Palestine as a State, Boker said he “hopes Malta will not be part of this family”.