Opening parts of Netanyahu's speech to the UN:
"Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What I’m about to say is going to shock you: Israel has a bright future at the UN.
Now I know that hearing that from me must
surely come as a surprise, because year after year I’ve stood at this
very podium and slammed the UN for its obsessive bias against Israel.
And the UN deserved every scathing word – for the disgrace of the
General Assembly that last year passed 20 resolutions against the
democratic State of Israel and a grand total of three resolutions
against all the other countries on the planet.
Israel – twenty; rest of the world – three.
And what about the joke called the UN Human
Rights Council, which each year condemns Israel more than all the
countries of the world combined. As women are being systematically
raped, murdered, sold into slavery across the world, which is the only
country that the UN’s Commission on Women chose to condemn this year?
Yep, you guessed it – Israel. Israel. Israel where women fly fighter
jets, lead major corporations, head universities, preside – twice – over
the Supreme Court, and have served as Speaker of the Knesset and Prime
Minister.
And this circus continues at UNESCO. UNESCO,
the UN body charged with preserving world heritage. Now, this is hard to
believe but UNESCO just denied the 4,000-year connection between the
Jewish people and its holiest site, the Temple Mount. That’s just as
absurd as denying the connection between the Great Wall of China and
China.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The UN, begun as a moral force, has become a
moral farce. So when it comes to Israel at the UN, you’d probably think
nothing will ever change, right? Well think again. You see, everything
will change and a lot sooner than you think. The change will happen in
this hall, because back home, your governments are rapidly changing
their attitudes towards Israel. And sooner or later, that’s going to
change the way you vote on Israel at the UN."
"...Today’s automatic majority against Israel at
the UN reminds me of the story, the incredible story of Hiroo Onada.
Hiroo was a Japanese soldier who was sent to the Philippines in 1944. He
lived in the jungle. He scavenged for food. He evaded capture.
Eventually he surrendered, but that didn’t happen until 1974, some 30
years after World War II ended. For decades, Hiroo refused to believe
the war was over. As Hiroo was hiding in the jungle, Japanese tourists
were swimming in pools in American luxury hotels in nearby Manila.
Finally, mercifully, Hiroo’s former commanding officer was sent to
persuade him to come out of hiding. Only then did Hiroo lay down his
arms.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished delegates from so many lands,
I have one message for you today: Lay down
your arms. The war against Israel at the UN is over. Perhaps some of you
don’t know it yet, but I am confident that one day in the not too
distant future you will also get the message from your president or from
your prime minister informing you that the war against Israel at the
United Nations has ended. Yes, I know, there might be a storm before the
calm. I know there is talk about ganging up on Israel at the UN later
this year. Given its history of hostility towards Israel, does anyone
really believe that Israel will let the UN determine our security and
our vital national interests?
We will not accept any attempt by the UN to
dictate terms to Israel. The road to peace runs through Jerusalem and
Ramallah, not through New York...."
"...Are the half million slaughtered Syrians helped by your condemnation of
Israel? The same Israel that has treated thousands of injured Syrians in
our hospitals, including a field hospital that I built right along the
Golan Heights border with Syria. Are the gays hanging from cranes in
Iran helped by your denigration of Israel? That same Israel where gays
march proudly in our streets and serve in our parliament, including I’m
proud to say in my own Likud party. Are the starving children in North
Korea’s brutal tyranny, are they helped by your demonization of Israel?
Israel, whose agricultural knowhow is feeding the hungry throughout the
developing world?"
The sooner the UN’s obsession with Israel
ends, the better. The better for Israel, the better for your countries,
the better for the UN itself.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If UN habits die hard, Palestinian habits die
even harder. President Abbas just attacked from this podium the Balfour
Declaration. He’s preparing a lawsuit against Britain for that
declaration from 1917. That’s almost 100 years ago – talk about being
stuck in the past. The Palestinians may just as well sue Iran for the
Cyrus Declaration, which enabled the Jews to rebuild our Temple in
Jerusalem 2,500 years ago. Come to think of it, why not a Palestinian
class action suit against Abraham for buying that plot of land in Hebron
where the fathers and mothers of the Jewish people were buried 4,000
years ago? You’re not laughing. It’s as absurd as that. To sue the
British government for the Balfour Declaration? Is he kidding? And this
is taken seriously here?"
"...I am hopeful about what Israel can accomplish
because I’ve seen what Israel has accomplished. In 1948, the year of
Israel’s independence, our population was 800,000. Our main export was
oranges. People said then we were too small, too weak, too isolated, too
demographically outnumbered to survive, let alone thrive. The skeptics
were wrong about Israel then; the skeptics are wrong about
Israel now.
Israel’s population has grown tenfold, our
economy fortyfold. Today our biggest export is technology – Israeli
technology, which powers the world’s computers, cellphones, cars and so
much more."
Good stuff.
***
Obama, for his part, also addressed the UN and he spoke of a commitment to cooperation and multilateralism and took his usual subtle criticism of the U.S. characterizing it as 'my country'.
In other words, more blah, blah, blah.
The President is all for 'cooperation' unless it's domestic. Then he's all for bypassing Congress (apparently this is okay because they refuse to work with him) and attack countries like Libya, topple governments in Egypt; to say nothing of itching to bomb Syria.
Well put! And I watched Netanyahu's speech and Obama's. What a contrast!
ReplyDeleteHe always refers his country as 'Israel' not as 'my country'. I find that interesting.
Delete