Activists, President Emeritus, ask PM to recall Maltese Ambassador to Israel

Activists have written to Prime Minister Robert Abela and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ian Borg asking for Malta to recall its ambassador in Tel Aviv after another escalation of Israel’s operations in Gaza.

The letter was endorsed by over 150 members of Maltese civil society and a number of organisations, including President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

Cecilia Attard Pirotta has served as Malta's resident ambassador to Israel since 2021.

“We affirm our belief that justice and equality will bring peace and security and that Malta’s tradition of supporting the Palestinian people is even more relevant now in the face of the genocide being carried out by Israel,” the letter read.

“We therefore call for Malta to recall its Ambassador to Israel, on account of the latter’s repeated and indiscriminate violations of international law. As a neutral state, Malta believes that aggression and violence do not bring peace and respect for human rights, and that the murder of thousands of Palestinian children have nothing to do with the condemnation of terrorism,” the letter reads.

The activists added that Malta and its people cannot be party to the killing of innocent civilians, bombings on schools and hospitals, the blocking of the provision of water, food, fuel and medicines, detention, torture, apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

“Malta joined 140 nations in the UN General Assembly calling for an immediate ceasefire and end to the Israeli siege of Gaza. However, the situation of 2.3 million people in Gaza is deteriorating every day. Wounded children with no surviving family have become common as hospitals, schools and the most densely populated areas are targeted again and again,” the activists said in a statement.

The activists are still collecting signatures, via this link.