Netanyahu at the UN: 'I am filled with hope'
JERUSALEM, Israel – In his upbeat address to the U.N. General Assembly Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted a great future with the United Nations.
That would be a dramatic turnaround from the U.N.'s long history of anti-Israel bias.
"I have one message for you today," he said. "Lay down your arms. The war against Israel at the U.N. is over."
Netanyahu said more and more countries are realizing Israel is not the enemy, noting that today more than 160 countries have diplomatic relations with Israel.
"World leaders increasingly appreciate that Israel is a powerful country with one of the best intelligence services on earth," he continued. "Because of our unmatched experience and proven capabilities in fighting terrorism, many of your governments seek our help in keeping your country safe."
"Many also seek to benefit from Israeli ingenuity in agriculture, in health, in water, in cyber and in the fusion of big data, connectivity and artificial intelligence – that fusion that is changing the world in every way."
Israel leads the world in recycling waste water, reclaiming 90 percent of its waste water, making it a global water power. It is also a global cyber power.
Watch his complete speech below.
Netanyahu chided Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' earlier remarks attacking the 1917 Balfour Declaration, calling him "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," he said.
"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?" he continued. "It's as absurd as that – to sue the British government for the Balfour Declaration? Is he kidding? And this is taken seriously here?"
The settlements (Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria) have never been the core of the conflict, he said.
"The conflict raged for decades before there was a single settlement, when Judea Samaria and Gaza were all in Arab hands," he continued. "The West Bank and Gaza were in Arab hands and they attacked us again and again and again. And when we uprooted all 21 settlements in Gaza and withdrew from every last inch of Gaza, we didn't get peace from Gaza – we got thousands of rockets fired at us from Gaza. This conflict rages because for the Palestinians, the real settlements they're after are Haifa, Jaffa and Tel Aviv."
Netanyahu concluded his remarks by saying he's "filled with hope" because the future belongs to innovative countries like Israel.
"Dream of the future that we can build together, a future of breathtaking progress, a future of security, prosperity and peace, a future of hope for all humanity, a future where even at the U.N., even in this hall, Israel will finally, inevitably, take its rightful place among the nations."
