Martinelli pro-Israel statements deemed reckless

Controversial statements by President Ricardo Martinelli during his five day trip to Israel have been attacked at home and abroad.

The first of  his remarks  was a reference to Israel as the “guardian” of the holy city of Jerusalem, which ignores Arab claims.

Later he said  that the two countries hold the same ideals, the same principles, and values, and “we are supporting the state of Israel. "
He followed up: “"We are not members of the Security Council, but when present in the Assembly and considering  a sentence that is unjust let’s give the vote to the state of Israel, along with the American position,"
Martinelli leave the region this afternoon after a five-day visit, the first by a Panamanian president to Israel in more than two decades and which has sought at all times to give a substantial boost to bilateral relations that began in June 1948 to few days of creating the Jewish state.

He also disqualified the validity of the Goldstone report on the military operation that Israel launched Cast Lead in Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009, accusing the Israeli army alleged war crimes by the heavy civilian casualties among . Palestinians.

"The first thing in a democracy is that a person is innocent until prove him guilty. In that report you are guilty and has no chance to prove his innocence. It’s like an inquisition," he said.
The report accused both sides in the conflict and recently Israel admitted that two senior officers had been identified as having used phosphorous shells that landed on civilian and UN locations in Gaza,

The political support of the government of Panama for Israel and the rejection of the Palestinian movement’s generated criticism of Panama’s foreign policy and its detachment from the traditional peacemaker role of the country

Nils Castro, a former diplomat and member of the Committee on International Relations of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) said on RPC radio that the president’s statements were a "blunder" and showed "recklessness".
H e added that the cooperation agreements signed in Israel were "not worth" the risk of the a controversial statemenst, probably marked by the "ignorance" and "lack of sophistication" in foreign policy matters .

Palestinian leader Nabil Shaath, warned that the Panamanian leader’s words are an "insult" to the Palestinians, the Arab world and the Christian and Islamic world.

Shaath, a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, rejected the reasons for the visit of President of Panama to holy places occupied by Israel, with whom he signed various agreements.

He said the traditional sense of balance in international relations was respected by all PanamanianGovernments, except the current administration, led by Martinelli.

Martinelli completed an international tour by Qatar and Israel, where he claimed “concrete” commitments "concrete" for Panama, including the immediate reactivation of technical cooperation programs in the area of agriculture and expansion of talks for the construction of a refinery in Chiriqui.