Joseph Muscat Insinuated Metsola Met Netanyahu… But He’s The Only One Who Did
Besides ‘accidentally’ referring to her as “Roberta Busuttil” while declaring that the Labour Party is all about unity and friendship, he implied that the President of the European Parliament met with Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, Metsola never met with Netanyahu, something she made clear not long ago during an interview with Andrew Azzopardi on RTK103.
“They don’t want to extend a friendly hand even when we extend it ourselves, but then they cosy up with those who killed thousands of children,” Muscat said during a political rally organised by PL MEP Alex Agius Saliba, presumably referring to Netanyahu in light of his siege of Gaza.
“You know who I’m referring to, right?” he continued with a smirk, before ‘accidentally’ calling her Roberta Busuttil and saying “well, at least I didn’t say Simon Metsola because that’s what was going to come out.”
Muscat is the only Maltese Prime Minister to have met with Netanyahu, he did so back in 2013. Back then Palestinian people were already being subject to human rights abuses and violence at the hands of the Israeli military.
In fact, in 2016, the United Nations reaffirmed that Israel’s settlement’s in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, violated international law.
Israel had also already been six years into its blockade of Gaza by the time they met, meaning it controlled the strip’s land, air and sea borders. Through this, the government implemented restrictions on goods, fuel and other basic elements, as well as a tightening of travel into and out of the Gaza Strip, which all ultimately led to the description of the enclave as an “open-air prison“.
Muscat met with Netanyahu to discuss bilateral cooperation which had “grown dramatically” and to discuss Iran’s nuclear capacity.
Meanwhile, Metsola never met with Netanyahu.
She did, however, meet with the Head of State, President Isaac Herzog. This meeting proved controversial in Malta with Prime Minister Robert Abela stating that it sent the Israelis a signal that the EU was green-lighting their attacks on Gaza.
During the interview, Metsola said that she urged Israel to exercise caution through its reaction. She even brought out a letter that the Palestinian Authority, which she said should take control over Gaza, had sent her to personally thank her for her diplomatic efforts in the region.
Metsola condemned Israel for its heavy attacks on Gaza, warning that if the killing of 1,500 Israelis is wrong, the killing of 20,000 Palestinians is even more so.
She described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” and urged Malta to take in more Palestinian refugees.
However, she stopped short of calling Israel’s campaign a “genocide”, stating that it is up to the International Court of Justice to decide this but that Netanyahu must “shoulder political responsibility”.
Did you know that Joseph Muscat met Netanyahu?
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