KARAPATAN slammed as hypocritical a plea yesterday from the Israeli embassy to the Philippine government for dialogue after the Philippine delegation joined the representatives of more than 70 other countries in a walkout as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2026.
At the same time, KARAPATAN assailed the Marcos Jr. regime for trying to score points with the international media by joining the walkout but maintaining close ties with Israeli defense companies.
“The Israeli embassy is doing damage control after Netanyahu branded those who walked out as ‘moral cowards’,” said KARAPATAN deputy secretary general Atty. Maria Sol Taule. “In a highly vitriolic speech, he lashed out at everyone critical of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, its violent expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and its joint war with the US against Iran that has triggered oil price shocks and economic crises worldwide. It is mind-boggling to hear the Israeli government plead for dialogue after their prime minister delivered a speech that left no room for dialogue,” noted Taule.
“As for the Marcos Jr. regime,” said Taule, “I wonder how it can reconcile its walkout with the fact that it has been importing an array of weapons from Israeli defense companies that are being used to suppress the Filipino people.”
“Under the AFP Modernization Program, the Philippines has been buying ATMOS 2000 155mm self-propelled howitzers that have been used in artillery attacks against rural communities,” said Taule. “The Philippine government has also been importing TAR-21 and Galil ACE assault rifles, Negev light machine guns and Jericho/Masada handguns utilized by both the AFP and the PNP,” she added. “The police in the Philippines have been seen brandishing some of these weapons during their violent dispersals of protests.”
Karapatan said that the Philippine government cannot project one image on the international stage while pursuing a contradictory policy at home. “The Philippine government cannot claim solidarity with the Palestinian people while continuing to acquire and use weapons from Israeli defense companies against its own people,” said Taule. “The Philippine government’s ties with US and Israel raise serious questions about the sincerity of its position on Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. The same government that walks out on Netanyahu at the UN must also reckon with the weapons it allows to be placed in the hands of the AFP and PNP and used against Filipino activists, rights defenders and communities,” she concluded.