Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 66th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 23, 2011. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eviscerated the United Nations today during his speech to the General Assembly. The Israeli leader also said that Israel was readyfor the Palestinians to have a state but they weren't prepared for another Gaza in the West Bank.
Haaretz reported:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the Palestinians want a state without peace, stressing they must make peace with Israel before vying for statehood.
"The Palestinians must first make peace with Israel, and only then get their state," Netanyahu said while speaking before the UN General Assembly on Friday.
"Israel is prepared to have a Palestinian state in the West Bank, but we're not prepared to have another Gaza there," Netanyahu stressed. He spoke Friday shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, defying U.S. and Israeli opposition, asked the United Nations to accept them as a member state, sidestepping nearly two decades of failed negotiations.
Netanyahu responded by saying Israel was renewing its hand of peace to countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, "but most especially, I extend my hand to the Palestinian people, with whom we seek a just and lasting peace." Israel has rejected the Palestinian bid, saying that peace can only be achieved through negotiations, not a unilateral declaration of statehood.
Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Salva Kiir, President of South Sudan in New York yesterday.
