Netanyahu: We won’t accept ‘any attempt by the UN to dictate terms to Israel’

by WorldTribune Staff, September 23, 2016

Peace in the Middle East “runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22.

In repeating his call for direct talks with the Palestinians, Netanyahu rejected any UN plan to unilaterally impose a solution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly on Sept. 22. /Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly on Sept. 22. /Getty Images

“We will not accept any attempt by the UN to dictate terms to Israel,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli prime minister invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to come “speak to the Israeli people at the Knesset in Jerusalem.” Netanyahu then offered to “gladly come to speak peace with the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah.”

“I call on President Abbas: you have a choice to make. You can continue to stoke hatred as you did today or you can finally confront hatred and work with me to establish peace between our two peoples.”

Netanyahu began his address by calling the UN’s constant condemning of Israel “a disgrace” and “a moral farce.” He also called the UN Human Rights Council a “joke” and UNESCO a “circus.”

“The sooner the UN’s obsession with Israel ends, the better,” Netanyahu said. “The better for Israel, the better for your countries, the better for the UN itself.”

Netanyahu pointed out that “more and more nations see Israel as a potent partner,” and predicted that change will come soon. “Ladies and gentlemen, one message for you today: Lay down your arms, the war against Israel in the UN is over. The change will happen in this hall because back home your governments are rapidly changing their attitudes toward Israel, and sooner or later that’s going to change the way you vote at the UN.”

“World leaders increasingly appreciate that Israel is a powerful country with one of the best intelligence services on earth,” Netanyahu said. “Because of our unmatched experience and proven capabilities in fighting terrorism, many of your governments seek our help in keeping your countries safe.”

At the same podium an hour earlier, Abbas vowed to submit a resolution to the UN Security Council against Israeli settlements and “the terror of the settlers against the Palestinian people.”

He said the Palestinians will support all efforts for a UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements, and pointed to the U.S. by saying he hopes such a motion will not be met by any veto.

“I call on you to declare 2017 the year to end the Israeli occupation of our land and our people,” Abbas said.

Abbas also called on Britain to apologize for the 1917 Balfour Declaration and claimed that as a result of Britain’s endorsement of a Jewish homeland in the Holy Land, Israel “since 1948 has persisted in its contempt for international legitimacy” and seized more than the land additionally allotted for the Jewish state.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon criticized the PA president’s speech.

“Abbas chose to use the UN pulpit to represent Palestinian terror. His dangerous words are sure to lead to even more terror attacks against Israel,” Danon said. “The Palestinian youth listening to his speech today will be the terrorists of tomorrow. Abbas’s words are like a ticking time-bomb.”