BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations (UN) General Assembly yesterday and warned about the dangers of radical Islam and a nuclear Iran. At the same time, he indicated that a wider rapprochement with the Arab world could lead to Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Netanyahu said, “To achieve that peace, we must not look only at Jerusalem and Ramallah, but also to Cairo, Amman, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and elsewhere,” adding, “I believe peace can be realised with the active involvement of Arab countries, those who are willing to provide political, material and other indispensable support.”

Framing the challenges facing the world, Netanyahu said that, “our hopes and the world’s hopes for peace are in danger because everywhere we look militant Islam is on the march.” In this context, he explained, “That is why Israel’s fight against Hamas is not just our fight, it is your fight,” describing Hamas as sharing the same poisonous ideology as ISIS. Netanyahu also emphasised that preventing Iran’s nuclear armament is key to the struggle against radical Islamism. Referring to international determination in tackling ISIS, he said that, “to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war.”

Netanyahu also took aim at Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who addressed the same forum on Friday, accusing Israel of “absolute war crimes” during Operation Protective Edge. Netanyahu robustly defended the actions of the IDF, saying, “no other army in history has gone to greater lengths” to avoid civilian casualties. He summarised, “Israel was using its missiles to protect its children. Hamas was using its children to protect its missiles” and asked how Abbas “who insists on a Palestine free of Jews, judenrein, can stand on this podium and shamelessly accuse Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

In Maariv, commentator Ben Caspit suggests Netanyahu’s speech was designed for internal consumption, describing it as an “excellent election speech,” but that “in the international arena actions are also needed.” Nahum Barnea in Yediot Ahronot also says that lack of action means Netanyahu is “talking out of both sides of his mouth.”