VIDEO: Netanyahu gives UN the silent treatment
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VIDEO: Netanyahu gives UN the silent treatment

Jack Mendel is the former Online Editor at the Jewish News.

by Jack Mendel

Benjamin Netanyahu heavily criticised the United Nations during his address to its General Assembley on Thursday, for its “deafening silence” over Iran.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s address focused heavily on Iran’s nuclear threat, and its previously stated desire to destroy Israel.

Netanyahu said: “Last week, Major General Salehi, the commander of Iran’s army, proclaimed this: “We will annihilate Israel for sure. We are glad that we are in the forefront of executing the Supreme Leader’s order to destroy Israel.”

Bibi continues: “And as for the Supreme Leader himself, a few days after the nuclear deal was announced, he released his latest book. Here it is. It’s a 400-page screed detailing his plan to destroy the State of Israel.

bibi
Netanyahu holding up the book

The Israeli leader continued: “Last month, Khamenei once again made his genocidal intentions clear before Iran’s top clerical body, the Assembly of Experts. He spoke about Israel, home to over six million Jews. He pledged, “there will be no Israel in 25 years.”

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!

Utter silence!

Deafening silence.

(At this point, Netanyahu paused for 44 seconds.)

You can see Benjamin Netanyahu’s full address here: WATCH – Netanyahu’s address to the United Nations.

On the previous day, the State Palestine’s president, Mahmoud Abbas addressed the assembly, during which he said that as Israel’s refusal to commit to the agreements signed “render us an authority without real powers”.

Mr Abbas added: “We cannot continue to be bound by these agreements.”

It was Mr Abbas‘s most serious warning yet to Israel that he might walk away from engagement with Israel and dissolve the Palestinian Authority.

He stopped short of accompanying his threat with a deadline.

He had threatened to drop a “bombshell” in the speech – prompting speculation he would sever ties with Israel over its settlement expansion and other hardline policies.

You can see Mahmoud Abbas’s full address here: Abbas tells #UNGA: I won’t be ‘bound by agreements’ with Israel any longer

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