Gillerman: UNIFIL is not carrying out its mandate

Outgoing Israeli ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman told the Jerusalem Post that the UNIFIL multi-national force assigned to southern Lebanon to maintain the ceasefire is not carrying out its mandate and is laying the groundwork for another round of violence between Israel and Hezbollah.

Gillerman called on the UNIFIL force to be more proactive in going after Hezbollah and stopping arms smuggling and weapons collecting in the area. "The UNIFIL soldiers were not sent there to give out chocolates to children or write traffic tickets. They were sent there to carry out a mandate which was very clearly defined, and they are not [doing so]," he said. "By not doing it, they may be laying the groundwork for the next flare-up. So even in their own interest and for their safety, they should be more proactive and go after Hizbullah, and find a way to control the Israeli-Syrian border."

Gillerman added that he had briefed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the situation concerning the non-implementation of Resolution 1701 concerning UNIFIL's mandate. Gillerman said that the necessary authorities had been briefed on the situation and that as the mandate stands, more effective measures could be taken to implement it.

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