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Erin Burnett Outfront

U.N.: Israel And Hamas Agree To 72-Hour Cease-Fire; Split in the Israeli Administration Over Cease-Fire; U.N. Condemns Israel for War Crimes; Special Design of Plane to Bring Ebola-Infected Americans Back Home; Israel's Tech Company's Success at Global Market

Aired July 31, 2014 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Next, breaking news, a brief cease-fire announced in Gaza. Will it hold? And the U.N. has its strongest words yet for Israel.

Plus more breaking news, a U.S. plane flying two Americans with Ebola back to the United States. One headed to Dr. Sanjay Gupta's hospital. Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. There is a 72-hour cease-fire between Israel and Gaza just announced. According to the details of the agreement, which we are just getting in to CNN, the quote is, "forces on the ground will remain in place. This is only a humanitarian cease-fire." A brief pause in the fighting, all meant to get aid to civilians in Gaza.

We are going to hear from a top Israeli official, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, in just a moment. First, we have Sarah Sidner in Jerusalem, John Vause in Gaza City.

John, I want to start with you, the center of the fighting. What's happening there, John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, we have seen a number of rockets fired by Hamas since news came through that there is a cease-fire deal in place. Obviously, those rockets outgoing towards Israel. Sarah can tell you more about where they landed.

We have also been seeing a lot of Israeli activity here as well. A lot of heavy machine gun fire to the east of us. Also the sound of artillery as well. We were expecting an uptick in the activity here in Gaza. That's been the pattern here.

They agree to these cease-fires. They then launched one last barrage of military activity, if you like, trying to get as much done before that cease-fire goes into place. That hasn't happened yet. We have about six hours before the cease-fire takes hold.

We should also say that while Hamas has said that they will abide by the cease-fire -- not just Hamas but all the Palestinians in Gaza, they have said that they are committed to it, providing the other party -- Israel, sticks to it as well -- Erin. BURNETT: John, is this a sign of weakness or running out of steam on the part of Hamas that they would agree to the cease-fire?

VAUSE: This is a question because these two sides have been dug in. Hamas said they won't agree to a cease-fire while Israeli troops remain in Gaza looking for the tunnels. The Israelis said they won't agree to a cease-fire if they can't continue to look and destroy those tunnels.

So this is the gray area. No one is able to answer this. We put the question to the spokesperson for Hamas. He gave one line back. He said this cease-fire is mutual, a mutual cease-fire. Both parties agree to stop doing what they are doing. That was the implication. He said it's mutual.

So at this point we just don't know. We are still waiting to hear from the Israelis about looking for those tunnels. We are also hearing from people who have been forced to leave their homes in Jabalia, all the areas which are now areas of operation as far as the Israelis are concerned.

And they're not particularly happy about not being able to go back to their homes because the Israeli troops will remain in place in those areas. One other issue in all of this, Erin, too. This is a very drastic humanitarian situation right now in Gaza. Look at it. This is pitch black.

BURNETT: No power.

VAUSE: These people have been without electricity for three days. We were at the hospital earlier. They were running off generators. They don't think those generators can run 24/7 for too much longer. They don't have spare parts to fix them. This is dire here right now.

BURNETT: All right, John, thank you very much on the Gaza side of the story. I want to go to Sara Sidner now. She is in Israel tonight. Sara, what's happening there?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NAITONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are in Ashkelon. We have been hearing the deep baritone booms of artillery fire from here going into Gaza. We have seen that there are sirens that went off in a few areas. One south of Ben Gurion International Airport.

We understand from the IDF that two of the rockets actually landed in the sea. One of the rockets had to be taken out by the iron dome because it was heading towards a very populated area of Israel.

We can also tell you that we were at the scene, got to the scene of a rocket -- where a rocket hit in a neighborhood. The iron dome does take care of a lot of these things coming into populated areas, but not all the time. This one it missed.

Landing in a street and blasting two cars that were literally sort of blasted across the street and just blown apart. We also saw a lot of shrapnel when we went to the scene, all over the houses surrounding it. A pretty wide area. We understand from the Israeli police that it was a grad rocket and at least one person has been injured and was taken to the hospital. That person very far away from where it hit, but the shrapnel made it all the way into a second floor apartment that he was looking at.

It's a reminder to a lot of the people here than when those sirens go off and you have that 60 seconds, you have to get into to a safety room if you have it, a lot of people do that live in these neighborhoods because these are the areas that get hit quite often -- Erin.

BURNETT: Sara Sidner, thank you very much, from the Israeli side of this.

And joining me now the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor. Thank you very much for taking the time to be with me. So let's just ask that the big question on the table tonight. Will the cease-fire last the 72 hours it's supposed to?

RON PROSOR, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Well, if we look at the past, Israel would always said yes and always say kept the cease-fire. Hamas has a strange way to look at cease-fires. Usually, we cease and they fire, but hopefully this 72 hours will allow us to be able to move to the next stage.

BURNETT: And I want to ask you about this because Hamas militants told one of our reporters on the ground, quote, "That this is a war to end all wars." Your former ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, said, this war must be totalled. Israel must fill out to crush Hamas no matter how long it takes. Those two sides don't sound like a cease fire anything more than a humanitarian cease fire has any chance here.

PROSOR: Well, I think one should see it with a motive. If you think, you know, beyond the words, what motive this will have in Gaza? Have we found oil in Gaza, natural resources, maybe they're digging so deep that we just might find oil? But seriously, Israel went out of Gaza never to look back.

In the sense all we want is a simple equation, if it's going to be quiet in Israel, it's going to be quiet in Gaza. We have absolutely no motive to continue this. We have the terror tunnels, which the international community looks at those terror tunnels.

And my fair assumptions was tunnel vision, hence narrow view putting all the blame in Israel and ignoring Hamas' war crimes that they're doing. So, if we continue looking at it this way, we won't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but only dark and destruction.

BURNETT: So -- and obviously, you're talking about the tunnels that they have built between Gaza and Israel. In terms of the cease fire, the 72-hour cease-fire, is Israel firmly on board, yes, Israel will observe that?

PROSOR: Well, you know, that formerly, the Israeli cabinet did not decide yet, but I'm sure we will hear a decision from Israel very soon. But from what we know in the past, it was very clear. Israel abided by all the cease-fire including the humanitarian ones, including the ones that Hamas itself initiated and broke.

BURNETT: So we should expect Israel to accept because they have accepted before?

PROSOR: Yes, we have seen the following. We have seen Israel bombarded with 2,800 rockets until now. And this is absolutely amazing. In the streets today, one street, 28 buildings, 19 were booby trapped and three Israeli soldiers died on that and dozens were wounded. Just to explain to the world what we're up against every day.

BURNETT: And let me ask you this because humanitarian reasons, that's what is behind the expected cease fire. As you said, Israel expected to accept this when it formally makes a decision shortly. But the United Nations says the humanitarian reasons are caused by Israel. The U.N. Human Rights high commissioner spoke earlier today and here's how she put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVI PILLAY, U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS HIGH COMMISSIONER: Attacks occurring now on schools, hospitals, U.N. premises, none of this appears to me to be accidental. There has been clear warnings issued to Israel. They appear to be defying obligations that international law imposes on them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What do you have to say?

PROSOR: I have to say to that, you know, to show your viewers here -- which is really interesting, 27 meters, 34 meters away from two elementary schools and a high school, a launcher by Hamas --

BURNETT: Hold on, Ambassador, I will let you make that point. Do we have Wolf Blitzer with us? Wolf, I believe you have the breaking news from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": We have word from Israeli officials that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense minister of Israel in accordance with the authority granted by the security cabinet to the prime minister, the statement we're getting from Israeli officials, is that Israel has accepted the U.S.- U.N. proposal for a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire beginning at 8:00 a.m. local time, that's a little bit less than six hours from now.

So Israeli officials, they are now telling CNN that Prime Minister Benjamin Israel has agreed to this U.S.-U.N. 72-hour humanitarian cease fire. You have the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations there, Erin, with you. He probably knew this was coming, but we now have official word from the Israeli government that they have accepted what John Kerry and Ban Ki-Moon have proposed.

BURNETT: All right, Wolf Blitzer, thank you very much. Ambassador, you had indicated that that was a direction this was going to go, but we now formally have this. So Israel is on board with the cease fire, but the United Nation says, the reason that there is a humanitarian disaster is because Israel is deliberately targeting civilians. You're trying to show me that the militants from Hamas are firing at Israel from very close to elementary schools.

PROSOR: That's very important because everyone talks about the targeting of innocent civilians. The Israeli army does not target innocent civilians, period. Look at the difference here, we have 27 meters and 34 meters, a launcher from two elementary schools and high schools in Gaza.

This is a terrain Hamas is using and abusing not just their own population as human shields, but using that to launch missiles against Israel day in and day out. We are trying the best we can and I have to tell you --

BURNETT: Because a lot of our viewers have heard Israel say that Hamas would store weapons in the schools. So, you're saying -- I mean, because the U.N. has said that the schools that Israel has struck did not have weapons in there. So you're saying it's not because of the weapons, but because there were militants nearby.

PROSOR: Well, they are two different things. One, A, they did store rockets and explosives in schools, and secondly, they stored it in mosques, hospitals, different buildings, which were civilian buildings. We go into an area, which is completely full of explosives, one found with a baby crib. We have to find a way --

BURNETT: Let me ask you how morally, though, you get around this. If you're the side without that doesn't have a strong weapons and you don't have the iron dome, maybe it's in your interest to have civilians killed that might help your cause.

But if you're Israel and you have the power and you have the iron dome, and you have a few militants firing from near a school, is it still OK to fire when you might hit that school with 3,000 innocent civilians in it?

PROSOR: Look, it's -- we have to understand that the Israeli troops are out there, being shot from mosques, with booby traps. They are responding there's no one in Israel --

BURNETT: There is no one who actually takes the time to say, wait, do we want to do this?

PROSOR: No. There is no one in Israel, any soldier that close out and tries specifically to target civilians. That doesn't happen in the ideas and when we make mistakes, it takes us time, but we stand up, and assume responsibility.

But it's important for you and your viewers to understand that Israel doesn't want this. All we want is to live in peace with our neighbors and we've tried to reach out to everyone who really wants to make peace with us.

But we are holding the Shield of David very, very close to our chest because only a secure Israel can achieve overall peace in this region.

BURNETT: All right, Ambassador Prosor, thank you very much for taking the time.

With the breaking news, Israel now agreeing in just the past 3 minutes to a cease fire with Gaza. It will begin in just a few hours, but will it last? We are going to go back to Wolf Blitzer. He is live in Jerusalem tonight with the very latest. He just broke that news from the Israeli prime minister.

And the United Nations with those harsh words for Israel. Is the U.N. no longer neutral in this war?

Plus, two Americans infected with a deadly Ebola virus are about to come back to the United States. One of them headed to Dr. Sanjay Gupta's hospital.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, a temporary cease-fire in the Middle East. The U.N. announcing that in less than six hours all sides have agreed to lay down their arms and stop firing rockets for 72 hours. It is a lull.

It's a humanitarian pause giving people in Gaza time to get more food and water, care for the injured, and bury the dead. Of course, there is no power in much of Gaza affecting the situation in the water and the sewage.

Our foreign affairs correspondent, Elise Labott is OUTFRONT. She broke story of a ceasefire. And Elise, what else are you learning about the agreement?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Erin, the Egyptians are inviting both the Israelis and Palestinians to Cairo within the next 48 hours. Egyptian officials telling they are not going to be guaranteeing the cease-fire.

They are really looking to the parties to come and show the commitment to not only adhering to a cease-fire, but negotiating a longer-term truce and arrangement that addresses some of the underlining issues in this conflict.

Now Secretary of State John Kerry on the phone all day with the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the Egyptian foreign minister, the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Qataris and Turks, all trying to piece this together. Listen to the secretary just moments ago speaking about the agreement reach today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Israel and the Palestinian factions have agreed that they are now prepared to implement a 72-hour, unconditional humanitarian cease-fire. So, starting later this morning, 8:00 a.m., August 1st, the parties are expected to cease all offensive military activities. And neither side will advance beyond its current locations. They will stay where they are in place. Israel will be able to continue its defensive operations for those tunnels that are behind its lines.

And the Palestinians will be able to receive food, medicine, and additional humanitarian assistance as well as to be able to tend to their wounded, bury their dead, and in safe areas, travel to their homes, and take advantage of the absence, hopefully, of violence for the 72 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: And what Secretary Kerry is hoping is that that 72 hours can be extended to another 72 hours, and as these parties come to Cairo and they start talking about some of the issues underlying the conflict.

For the Palestinians, that means easing the blockade of Gaza, salary, paying the salaries of their workers, freeing some of those prisoners that have been detained.

On the Israeli side, dealing with those tunnels, dealing with Hamas and those rockets, that could build trust, and that could be an extended calm, Erin, in which the parties can really show a commitment to have a better future for their people, Erin.

BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Elise. And Elise, of course, broke the news of the cease-fire. James Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute. Dan Senor is the co-founder of the Foreign Policy Initiative. He served in the George W. Bush administration. Thanks to both of you.

Dan, there's been a lot of criticism for Secretary of State John Kerry. He attempted a ceasefire before. It was widely perceived as a massive failure. A columnist in Israel's paper, "Haaretz" wrote, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ruined everything.

Very senior officials in Jerusalem described the proposal on the table as a strategic terrorist attack. That was a couple days ago. Now, a joint statement from the United States, John Kerry, and the U.N., there is a cease-fire. Is he vindicated?

DAN SENOR, CO-FOUNDER, FOREIGN POLICY INITIATIVE: Well, some of the rhetoric was hot. It wasn't just Israel that had a problem with these, it was the Jordanians, and Hamas. Everyone had a problem with it. He negotiated it with Qatar and Turkey, both Hamas supporters.

BURNETT: The State Department put out this statement, which I thought was kind of fascinating. The headlines is, "Neither Israel nor United States will sit across table from Hamas in Cairo. Senior U.S. State Department officials said that. This is a very serious issue, but it sounds like a very childish thing to say. Does that really serve to not elevate Hamas?

JAMES ZOGBY, PRESIDENT, ARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE: I think what's important is that the Palestinian Authority is in control. And Israel by agreeing to the cease fire has given control to the authority. We have a problem here. Hamas has agreed to a reconciliation process, and working with the Palestinian authority, and now we'll see the authority in charge of conducting these negotiations.

And one hopes they continue the cease fire, and we do see long term, concrete relief. In the form of open borders and an opportunity to grow the economy. It can take a long time for this to heal, and I don't want to see any more damage done.

BURNETT: Dan, it is, though, I think to a lot of people watching, you hear Hamas militants tell our Karl Penhaul today this is a war to end all wars, and then a cease fire that people hope is going grow into something bigger.

SENOR: Well, what Jim just said, he didn't talk about whether or not Hamas should be able to rearm, whether it's in the context of being part of the Palestinian Authority or not.

BURNETT: Israel says they use every cease fire to rearm and refresh.

SENOR: Exactly. Whether or not, I'm curious to see what Jim thinks what Hamas has built in the last nine years. A terrorist training camp, hundreds of millions of dollars spent, launching hundreds of rockets a day. So, I think from Israel's standpoint, of course, they want some kind of cease fire, an end to the process.

But they don't want to go back in. It's not good for anybody. So, to avoid going back in, they need to get rid of the rocket threat, get rid of the terror tunnels, and Jim, you do agree that Hamas should not be able to rearm, right?

ZOGBY: I agree that there should only be one authority. And I agree that there has to be an understanding. Israel didn't leave Gaza. When you have a government that counts the calories that it lets into Gaza, and says, we let 1,200 in a day, that's enough for each person.

The lives of people are at stake here. You have 1.8 million people, it's not an exaggeration to say it's an open-air prison camp. Do not blame the victim. Understand that Hamas emerges out of the despair and anger in the region.

What we have to hope here is that we have an agreement that produces hope, strengthens the Palestinian Authority and creates a future for everyone in the region.

SENOR: Modern Arab leaders throughout the region disagree with what you said. You saw the "New York Times" from page article today about how the Arab world is more sympathetic to the actions of Israel. Hamas is not Gaza. And Israel is not Palestine. The war with Hamas is not about suffering Palestinians.

That's not what this war against Hamas is about and that's why the United States senate today, the Saudi monarchy, they're all saying, Hamas still in power and able to rearm, and wreak havoc, is bad for the region. And nobody should want Israel to have to go in and keep doing what it's doing now. BURNETT: And to that point, how would anyone stop Hamas from being able to rearm, if you're not going to stop the governments -- Iran, Qatar, places like that?

SENOR: Well, in 2005, when they left Gaza, they did it without the Palestinian authority. Condoleezza Rice negotiated an agreement, and the result is you have a void in Gaza where Hamas was able to become strengthened, defeat the Palestinian Authority, and get back in.

(CROSSTALK)

ZOGBY: Well, you can't take the Palestinian authority out of Gaza --

SENOR: They defeated them.

ZOGBY: The blizzard of words here --

SENOR: I like to talk. Please let me finish.

BURNETT: Go ahead and finish your thought.

ZOGBY: The point is, we want to see a different future. We want to see a government that will care for the priorities of the people, which are jobs, employment, and feeding them.

Certainly, no one favors the philosophy, tactics, or priorities of Hamas. But I also find deplorable the way that Israel has created the situations of despair and poverty in Gaza.

And people can so doubt on whether this building or that building, but when you bomb the power plant, leave 1.8 million without water, it's wrong and a war crime, and it really must be addressed. Now I am --

SENOR: Jim, is Hamas -- I agree with you that the civilian facilities being bombed is horrendous. But do you not blame, I want to be clear, Hamas can choose whether or not to launch a series of terror attacks or not. Hamas can choose whether or not to kidnap Israelis through the tunnels with tranquilizers and handcuffs, and build a whole maze tunnels like they have or not. These are decisions that Hamas can make. And they are making these decisions.

BURNETT: So, you're saying it's Hamas making the decision.

SENOR: And Israel is responding.

BURNETT: But when Israel bombards civilians, that's not their decision, isn't it?

SENOR: They are -- no, no, no. They're responding to terrorist attacks. They are doing what any practical - would the United States not do anything different?

BURNETT: The United States killed civilians ...

(CROSSTALK)

SENOR: If two thirds of our population ...

BURNETT: Yes.

SENOR: If two thirds of our population were in bomb shelters, what do you think we would be doing if that - were coming from the other side of our contiguous border?

ZOGBY: Dan.

SENOR: So, it's true --

ZOGBY: I will agree with you. Hamas made very bad choices, deplorable choices. I've condemned them for it repeatedly, but Israel has not helped the situation. They've compounded it by committing atrocities that have only strengthened the hand of extremists, and that's the problem. Hamas gets validated Israel's behavior. That's the problem we have to unwind.

BURNETT: Thank you very much, both of you. We appreciate your taking the time and all of you, please, give us - give us your feedback on that conversation.

Still OUTFRONT, the breaking news, hours away from the cease-fire. It comes as the United Nations has been lashing out at Israel for the violence. Is the United Nations bias? Is it anti-Semitic? And a plane carrying two Americans infected with Ebola on its way to the United States. One of them will be treated at Dr. Sanjay Gupta's hospital. Sanjay is out front tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Back now with our breaking news. Israel has now officially accepted a 72-hour cease-fire with Hamas. Hamas had earlier agreed to a United Nations and United States proposal from John Kerry and Ban Ki-moon to hold fire starting at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow local time, that's in less than six hours. The agreement is for humanitarian reasons only, to get supplies, bury the dead. Theoretically to try to get power back to that power station that has left so much of Gaza in the dark without water and sewage. The agreement also states that all forces on the ground, though, will remain in place. Wolf Blitzer is in Jerusalem tonight. He broke the news on our air moments ago that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to the cease- fire, after Hamas had agreed. Why was there a delay? There was an announcement that everybody agreed, but the Israeli cabinet not yet agreed.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's a very, very sensitive subject, Erin here. It is - Well, there's a split, there's clearly a split in the Israeli security cabinet between the hardliners who oppose the cease- fire. They want to allow the Israeli military to continue offensive operations against various Hamas targets inside Gaza. And then on the other hand, the prime minister, the Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who's the defense minister of Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister. And other more moderate members of the cabinet, they say, you know what, the U.N., the U.S., they want this humanitarian cease fire. Hamas says they are going to go along with it. Israel is under enormous international pressure. The images out of Gaza have been awful, as far as Israel is concerned, the civilian casualties that have clearly mounted, so the prime minister, the defense minister officials telling us that in accordance with earlier decisions made by the security cabinet of Israel, they've gone along with this decision.

It's clear that Secretary of State John Kerry in his public comments tonight even while he's in New Delhi, India, he said that under the terms of this agreement, Israeli forces not only will be allowed to remain in place, they cannot undertake what are called offensive military operations, but they can undertake defensive military operations during the course of these three days, the 72 hours of this humanitarian cease-fire. Which is interpreted as meaning that Israel can continue doing what its priority number one in Gaza is right now destroying those Hamas tunnels that come from Gaza into Israel.

So, it's complicated, it will be very, very controversial here in Israel. Israel is accepting this 72-hour proposal, the cease-fire put forward by the U.S. and the U.N., supported by Egypt, but there will be an Israeli delegation in Cairo tomorrow, a Palestinian delegation including representatives from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in Cairo tomorrow. They'll begin discussing some of the other issues. On the table issues of concern to Israel, rockets and missiles, for example, coming from Hamas in Gaza.

BURNETT: Yeah.

BLITZER: Into Israel, and issues of concern for the Palestinians. So, we'll see where the cease-fire goes. We'll see if it lasts. 8:00 a.m., it's what, less than six hours from now. A five and a half hours from now. We'll see if it really holds.

BURNETT: All right. Wolf Blitzer, thank you very much. As Wolf points out, about 95 percent of Jewish Israelis according to a recent poll, supported this war. So, as he said, this cease-fire, highly controversial in Israel. The cease-fire follows what has been the United Nations strongest condemnation of Israel since this conflict began. Incredibly strong words, a top official telling reporters that the attacks against civilians do not appear to be accidental. Richard Roth is out-front.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This pro-Israel demonstration in the shadow of the United Nations where because of Gaza, the distance now between Israel and the U.N. has grown even wider among these frequent foes. So far in this conflict, several U.N. schools in Gaza sheltering Palestinians have been attacked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The precise location coordinates of the schools were conveyed on 17 occasions to the Israeli military.

ROTH: Israel insists it's responding to outgoing Hamas rocket launches near U.N. buildings. Even the U.N.'s usually mild mannered top diplomat seems to have lost patience with Israel.

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: All available evidence points to Israeli artillery as the course. Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children.

ROTH: As Gaza burns, each day a different U.N. agency all but accuses Israel of everything from war crimes to lying. It's the latest chapter in a chilly decades-long relationship that is tested every time Israel feels it must defend itself.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Many of us have seen Israel treated by one standard and every other nation of the world treated by another.

ROTH: The numbers don't favor Israel. A large majority of U.N. countries support the Palestinians on geopolitical and religious grounds, and Security Council Mid East meetings can feature a marathon of 50 or more speeches aimed at one side only.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel's continued violation of international law.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Israel has an obligation to respect the requirements under humanitarian law.

ROTH: There have been extremely rare moments at the U.N. when Israeli and Palestinian diplomats personally connected. Not now.

RON PROSOR, ISRAEL AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: We heard the presidential statement right now from the Security Council that miraculously managed not to mention Hamas or rockets or Israel's right to defend its citizens.

ROTH: There is another reason why some in Israel and its supporters here feel the U.N. is biased.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: The U.N. is becoming more anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic.

ROTH: The charge of anti-Semitism is always rooted in a 1975 moment in U.N. history. A General Assembly declaration that equated Zionism with racism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more than a piece of paper, and shall treat it as such.

ROTH: The U.N. represents the world, a former U.S. diplomat once said, when it comes to the U.N. and Israel, you can't blame the institution when its members are the ones who set the tone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: There's always something when it comes to Israel and the U.N. Just a few days ago on Tuesday, the U.N. was closed for Eid, Muslim holiday, two such days at least this year, but of course, on Christmas, the U.N. is also closed. Israel always points out, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, business is open here at the United Nations. Erin.

BURNETT: Richard Roth, thank you very much. Reporting life from the U.N. tonight. And next, the breaking news. A medical team from the United States on its way to pick up Americans infected with Ebola in Africa and bring them home. Doctor Sanjay Gupta is live next, one of the patients is going to hit hospital.

And a positive story out of the Middle East. An Israeli company about to make history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news, the Americans with the Ebola virus are coming back to the United States. This charter plane just took off a while ago out of Atlanta, headed to Liberia. Two Americans infected with Ebola are fighting for their lives there. And we're told tonight, Dr. Ken Brantly and Nancy Writebol are in serious, grave condition.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me. And Sanjay, obviously, I know one of these patients will be coming to your hospital there in Atlanta. What do you know about their condition?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we had heard some of the same things a couple of days ago. We had heard that the conditions had deteriorated, then there had been some - some time where they were at more stable, even a little bit of improvement, but, you know, it's really up and down, Erin. That is the nature of these things. It's hard to predict, even this plane that is en route there right now, I'm sure decisions were made ahead of time to try and anticipate are the patients going to be stable enough, even for this sort of travel. So, they are making this assessments constantly. But you - but Erin, yeah, this is a situation now where a medical evacuation plane is going to Monrovia Liberia and going to bring back an American with an Ebola infection into the United States. This has never happened before. Ebola as an infection has never been in the Western hemisphere and never been in the United States. So, there's a fair amount of anticipation and preparation around this, Erin.

BURNETT: And it's a big step. You take the risk of moving somebody with the virus that kills 90 percent of the people who get it. A virus with no cure and no vaccine into the United States, exposing possibly others to it. What is the reasoning behind that?

GUPTA: Well, you know, part of it is I think simply trying to bring a patient home. You know, to the country where they're from. Part of it as well is that you do have some very sophisticated resources at Emery University, the hospital run on faculty. They have an isolation center that is quite advanced. There's only four such advanced - five total, but such isolation centers in the country. It is physically separated from other patient areas. They feel like they can provide really good care. There isn't a medicine, there isn't a vaccine specifically, but there are, you know, pretty advanced treatments overall in terms of giving back fluids, giving back blood clotting factors, things like that to try to save someone's life.

BURNETT: All right, Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

BURNETT: And now to Tom Foreman, who has a better sense of exactly how this may- this transport may happen, Tom. Talking about just this risk, right, that you take about bringing someone with Ebola to the United States. What are they doing to prevent anyone else from getting this disease?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's inherent risk, Erin. But one of the things they are doing, is they are going to rely on a very special airplane, with very special equipment inside it to try to keep the disease isolated from any healthy people who come nearby. And let's move over here and look at what it would be like inside an aircraft like this. Essentially what you are talking about is the construction of a portable room inside here that would be entirely encased in plastics, sealed off from the outside. There's negative air pressure, meaning that the pressure is a little bit lower here than outside. So, if there is any sort of rift, a rift, there would be pressure of air flowing in.

This is not an airborne disease, so that doesn't really matter. But it is a protocol they follow inside. If we get rid of the plastic here, you would send to have a doctor, a nurse, maybe an epidemiologist, maybe you would have an anesthesiologist, and of course, you would have the patient. This gets tricky, too. There are three layers of protection here. The room, the gear, the crew is wearing and also the patient remains covered over in another layer of plastic. And all care, as they monitor his heart rate, his temperature, his respiratory reactions, everything has to be done through all of this. And even if he gets into trouble, even if he starts having cardiac arrest or something like that, or he has the violent vomiting or bleeding that Sanjay is talking about there, it must be treated with gloves reaching through the sides of this, and all the ways it has to be collected and kept inside. Because that fluid is what can make other people get sick.

And those three layers of protection have to stay in place, because, Erin, in trying to safe one person, you can't endanger a whole lot more with the disease as deadly as Ebola.

BURNETT: Most deadly as we said. 90 percent of people who contract it die. Tom Foreman, thank you.

And still out-front, in the middle of conflict, a glimmer of hope out of the Middle East, wait till you here this is a pretty shocking story. Next.

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BURNETT: We've been talking tonight about the breaking news, a 72 hour cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Amid the violence, there's a break spot. The economy in Israel largely intact and Mobileye, which is an Israeli tech company in the middle of massive war, it's about to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange in what would be the biggest ever IPO for an Israeli company. Ian Lee is out-front in Tel Aviv.

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IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While Israel levels neighborhoods in Gaza, and Hamas fires more than 2,000 rockets towards Israel, just 40 miles away from death and destruction, it's business as usual for many Israelis. After more than three weeks of fighting, conflict has cost billions of dollars, but it hasn't hit the Israeli economy much at all.

JOHN MEDVED, VENTURE CAPITALIST: In terms of the beating heart of our economy, which is the tech economy, companies like Mobileye and all those others that are going public, virtually no impact and, in fact, some investors are doubling down.

LEE: Many are willing to put big money into Israel. Tomorrow, the biggest U.S. IPO ever by an Israeli company will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

This may not be Silicon Valley, but the technology being developed in that building will likely effect your daily commute.

It's called mobile eye, the high-tech system of sensors in your car that stays alert, even if you don't. It spots potential dangers and keeps you on the road. Someday it may even take over the wheel, according to the company's CEO. Mobileye isn't commenting, but reports in the San Jose Mercury News say the technology is being eyed by Tesla for their upcoming driverless car and even though the company's stock is about to be traded on Wall Street. The conflict at home is a cloud hanging over the stability of Israel's economy.

MEDVED: If this actually goes on two months or three months or four months, then things will obviously change and what will happen is not just the continued impact on important sectors like tourism or like small retail, but more of a brand damage.

LEE: Which is exactly what Israelis may fear the most, as this conflict with Hamas continues to erupt with no end in sight. Ian Lee, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And of course, the big question is whether the bright spot of the Israeli economy is something that the Palestinians can share in Gaza, which is so ridden with unemployment and desperation. We'll be right back.

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BURNETT: Thanks so much for joining us. We are going to see tomorrow our breaking news of the cease-fire in Israel and Gaza continues right now with AC-360.