Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly as he seeks to repair relations with President Barack Obama, damaged by the Iran deal and the Israeli leader's rejection, while seeking re-election, of a two-state solution.
He held up a book by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling it a detailed plan for the destruction of Israel, and saying that he had vowed Israel would not exist in 25 years' time.
"Seventy years after the murder of six million Jews, Iran's rulers promise to destroy my country, murder my people, and the response from this body, the response from nearly every one of the governments represented here has been absolutely nothing," he said.
"Utter silence. Deafening silence," added Netanyahu, before falling silent for 45 seconds from the rostrum. Not a sound could be heard from the vast General Assembly chamber until he resumed speaking.
"Perhaps you can understand why Israel is not joining you in celebrating this deal," he said.
Netanyahu is fond of gimmicks. Three years ago at the UN, he made headlines with a cartoon of an Iranian bomb and by drawing a line on it.
He reiterated that Israel will do whatever it takes to defend "our state and to defend our people," and prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb.
On the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians, he said he was prepared to "immediately resume direct peace negotiations" without preconditions, although the Palestinians condition a resumption of dialog on an end to settlement building and the release of prisoners.
"Israel expects the Palestinian Authority to abide by its commitments. The Palestinians should not walk away from peace," he said.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told the Assembly on Wednesday that Israel's refusal to release prisoners and stop settlement activity, meant that Palestinians could not be bound by past agreements.
"President Abbas, I know it's not easy. I know it's hard," said Netanyahu, whose government is one of Israel's most right-wing ever.
"But we owe it to our peoples to try. To continue to try. Because together... if we actually sit down and try to resolve this conflict between us... we can do remarkable things for our people."
His remarks come with Netanyahu scheduled to speak with Obama at the White House in November -- their first meeting after a deep row about the Iranian nuclear deal.
Their frosty relations plummeted further during Netanyahu's re-election campaign when he rejected a two-state solution for peace with the Palestinians.
With the peace process in deep freeze, there are growing fears that tensions like those flaring at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa compound could spark a broader Palestinian uprising.
Abbas warned that recent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at the mosque compound risk turning a political conflict into a religious one, "creating an explosive situation."
Netanyahu used his UN speech to commit to the status quo at the sensitive Jerusalem compound, one of his strongest remarks in face of the current tensions.
"Israel will always respect the sacred shrines of all," he said. "Far from endangering the holy sites, it is Israel that ensures their safety," he added.
AFP
ahram.org.eg
1/10/15
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Israel's leadership has long opposed the agreement between the P5+1 group of countries and Iran, warning that the concessions offered to Tehran by the six world powers endanger stability in the Middle East.....
ReplyDelete"I think that it’s something that is not well understood now," Shalom said on Thursday when asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the UN General Assembly. "Unfortunately, I think it will be understood in a short time."
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu said that the nuclear agreement between Tehran and the six world powers known as the P5+1 group is likely to lead to results that are the opposite of what the deal supporters expect.
"This deal does not make peace more likely, by fueling Iran’s aggression with billions of dollars with sanctions relief, it makes war more likely," Netanyahu said.
According to the Netanyahu, during the past six month after signing the framework agreement, "Iran boosted its supply of devastating weapons in Syria, Iran sent more soldiers of its revolutionary guard into Syria, Iran sent thousands of Afghan and Pakistani Shiites to Syria" to prop up "Assad’s brutal regime."
Netanyahu also mentioned Iranian support for the Houthis in Yemen, the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
"After three days of listening to world leaders praise the nuclear deal with Iran [I say]: ladies and gentlemen, check your enthusiasm at the door," Netanyahu said.
sputniknews.com
2/10/15