YouSaid · the spoken record
Benjamin Netanyahu
We hold 65 passages that may be Benjamin Netanyahu’s. We do not publish them until we can confirm who spoke. See the correction.
On the record 1998–2023
podcast · un-general-debate
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“Rouhani stood at this very rostrum last week and praised Iranian democracy (see A/68/PV.6). Iranian democracy, he said. But the regime that he represents executes political dissidents by the hundreds and jails them by the thousands. Rouhani spoke of “the human tragedy in Syria”. Yet Iran directly participates in Al-Assad’s murder and massacre of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Syria, and that regime is propping up a Syrian regime that just used chemical weapons against its own people. Rouhani condemned the “violent scourge” of terrorism. Yet in the past three years alone Iran has ordered, planned or perpetrated terrorist attacks in 25 cities on five continents. Rouhani denounced “attempts to change the regional balance through proxies”.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2013Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Rouhani was also Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator between 2003 and 2005. He masterminded the strategy that enabled Iran to advance its nuclear-weapons programme behind a smokescreen of diplomatic engagement and very soothing rhetoric. I know that Rouhani does not sound like Ahmadinejad. But when it comes to Iran’s nuclear-weapons programme, the only difference between them is this: Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf’s clothing, Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing — a wolf who thinks he can pull the wool over the eyes of the international community. Like everyone else, I wish we could believe Rouhani’s words, but we must focus on Iran’s actions. And it is the brazen contrast — that extraordinary contradiction between Rouhani’s words and Iran’s actions — that is so startling.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2013Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“President Rouhani, like the presidents who came before him, is a loyal servant of the regime. He was one of only six candidates the regime permitted to run for office. Nearly 700 other candidates were rejected. What made him acceptable? Rouhani headed Iran’s Supreme National Security Council from 1989 through 2003. During that time, Iran’s henchmen gunned down opposition leaders in a Berlin restaurant. They murdered 85 people at the Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires. They killed 19 American soldiers by blowing up the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Are we to believe that Rouhani, the national security adviser of Iran at the time, knew nothing about those attacks? Of course he did — just as 30 years ago Iran’s security chiefs knew about the bombings in Beirut that killed 241 American marines and 58 French paratroopers.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2013Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“He issued a famous edict in which he proclaimed the right of the Jews to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. That is a Persian decree, and thus began a historic friendship between the Jews and the Persians that lasted until modern times. But, in 1979, a radical regime in Tehran tried to stamp out that friendship. As it was busy crushing the Iranian people’s hopes for democracy, it also led wild chants of “Death to the Jews!” Since that time, presidents of Iran have come and gone. Some presidents were considered moderates, others hard-liners. But they have all served that same unforgiving creed, that same unforgiving regime — that creed that is espoused and enforced by the real power in Iran, the dictator known in Iran as the Supreme Leader, first Ayatollah Khomeini and now Ayatollah Khamenei.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2013Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“I feel deeply honoured and privileged to stand here before the General Assembly today representing the citizens of the State of Israel. We are an ancient people. We date back nearly 4,000 years to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We have journeyed through time. We have overcome the greatest of adversities. And we re-established our sovereign State in our ancestral homeland, the land of Israel. The Jewish people’s odyssey through time has taught us two things: never give up hope and always remain vigilant. Hope charts the future, vigilance protects it. Today our hope for the future is challenged by a nuclear-armed Iran that seeks our destruction. But I want members to know that that was not always the case. Some 2,500 years ago, the great Persian King Cyrus ended the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2013Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We heed the words of the Jewish prophets Isaiah, Amos and Jeremiah to treat all with dignity and compassion, to pursue justice and cherish life and to pray and strive for peace. Those are the timeless values of my people, and they are the Jewish people’s greatest gift to humankind. Let us commit ourselves today to defending those values so that we can defend our freedoms and protect our common civilization.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“and it is shared by important leaders throughout the world. What I have said today will help ensure that this common goal is achieved. Israel is in discussions with the United States over this issue, and I am confident that we can chart a path forward together. The clash between modernity and medievalism need not be a clash between progress and tradition. The traditions of the Jewish people go back thousands of years. They are the source of our collective values and the foundations of our national strength. At the same time, the Jewish people have always looked towards the future. Throughout history, we have been at the forefront of efforts to expand liberty, promote equality and advance human rights. We champion those principles not in spite of our traditions but because of them.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The relevant question is at what stage can we no longer stop Iran from getting the bomb? The red line must be drawn on Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme because these enrichment facilities are the only nuclear installations that we can definitely see and credibly target. I believe that faced with a clear red line, Iran will back down. This will give more time for sanctions and diplomacy to convince Iran to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme altogether. Two days ago, from this podium, President Obama reiterated that the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran cannot be contained (see A/67/PV.6). I very much appreciate the President’s position, as does everyone in my country. We share the goal of stopping Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. This goal unites the people of Israel. It unites Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“There are some who claim that even if Iran completes the enrichment process, even if it crosses that red line that I just drew, our intelligence agencies will know when and where Iran will make the fuse, assemble the bomb and prepare the warhead. No one appreciates our intelligence agencies more than the Prime Minister of Israel. All these leading intelligence agencies are superb, including ours. They have foiled many attacks, they have saved many lives, but they are not foolproof. For over two years, our intelligence agencies did not know that Iran was building a huge nuclear enrichment plant under a mountain. Do we want to risk the security of the world on the assumption that we would find a small workshop in a country half the size of Europe in time? The relevant question is not when Iran will get the bomb.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“It is based on public reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Anybody can read them. They are online. So if these are the facts — and they are — where should a red line be drawn? A red line should be drawn right here, before Iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment necessary to make a bomb and before Iran gets to a point where it is a few months away or a few weeks away from amassing enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon. Each day, that point is getting closer. That is why I speak today with such a sense of urgency, and that is why everyone should have a sense of urgency.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“In the first stage they have to enrich enough low-enriched uranium; in the second stage they have to enrich enough medium-enriched uranium. And in the third, and final, stage they have to enrich enough high-enriched uranium for the first bomb. Where is Iran? Iran has completed the first stage. It took them many years, but they completed it, and they are 70 per cent of the way there. Now they are well into the second stage. By next spring, at most by next summer, at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and moved on to the final stage. From there, it is only a few months, possibly a few weeks, before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb. What I told the Assembly just now is not based on secret information. It is not based on military intelligence.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“That is a country that is bigger than France, Germany, Italy and Britain combined. The same is true for the small facility in which they could assemble a warhead or a nuclear device that could be placed in a container ship. Chances are you will not find that facility either. So in fact, the only way that you can credibly prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, is to prevent Iran from amassing enough enriched uranium for a bomb. So how much enriched uranium do you need for a bomb, and how close is Iran to getting it? Let me show you. I brought a diagram for you. Here is the diagram. This is a bomb. This is a fuse. In the case of Iran’s nuclear plans to build a bomb, this bomb has to be filled with enough enriched uranium, and Iran has to go through three stages.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The simplest example is gunpowder and a fuse — that is, you light the fuse and you set off the gunpowder. In the case of Iran’s plans to build a nuclear weapon, the gunpowder is enriched uranium. The fuse is a nuclear detonator. For Iran, amassing enough enriched uranium is far more difficult than producing the nuclear fuse. For a country like Iran, it takes many years to enrich uranium for a bomb. That requires thousands of centrifuges spinning in tandem in very big industrial plants. Those Iranian plants are visible and they are still vulnerable. In contrast, Iran could produce the nuclear detonator, the fuse, in a lot less time — maybe under a year, maybe only a few months. The detonator can be made in a small workshop the size of a classroom. It may be very difficult to find and target that workshop, especially in Iran.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“If the Western Powers had drawn clear red lines during the 1930s, I believe they would have stopped Nazi aggression, and the Second World War might have been avoided. In 1990, if Saddam Hussein had been clearly told that his conquest of Kuwait would cross a red line, the first Gulf War might have been avoided. Clear red lines have also worked with Iran. Earlier this year, Iran threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz. The United States drew a clear red line and Iran backed off. Now, red lines could be drawn in different parts of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, but to be credible, a red line must be drawn first and foremost in one vital part of their programme: on Iran’s efforts to enrich uranium. Now let me explain why. Basically, any bomb consists of explosive material and a mechanism to ignite it.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, during the last year alone, Iran doubled the number of centrifuges in its underground nuclear facility in Qom. At this late hour, there is only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs. That is by placing a clear red line on Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. Red lines do not lead to war. Red lines prevent war. Look at NATO’s charter. It made clear that an attack on one member country would be considered an attack on all. NATO’s red line helped keep the peace in Europe for nearly half a century. President Kennedy set a red line during the Cuban missile crisis. That red line also prevented war and helped preserve the peace for decades. In fact, it is the failure to place red lines that has often invited aggression.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“And I believe that it is the duty of every responsible leader who wants to preserve world peace. For nearly a decade, the international community has tried to stop the Iranian nuclear programme with diplomacy. That has not worked. Iran uses diplomatic negotiations as a means to buy time to advance its nuclear programme. For over seven years, the international community has tried sanctions with Iran. Under the leadership of President Obama, the international community has passed some of the strongest sanctions to date. I want to thank the Governments represented here that have joined in that effort. It has had an effect. Oil exports have been curbed and the Iranian economy has been hit hard. It has had an effect on the economy, but we must face the truth. Sanctions have not stopped Iran’s nuclear programme either.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Shockingly, some people have begun to peddle the absurd notion that a nuclear-armed Iran would actually stabilize the Middle East. That is like saying a nuclear- armed Al-Qaida would usher in an era of universal peace. I have been speaking about the need to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons for over 15 years. I spoke about it in my first term in office as Prime Minister, and then I spoke about it when I left office. I spoke about it when it was fashionable, and I spoke about it when it was not fashionable. I speak about it now because the hour is getting late, very late. I speak about it now because the Iranian nuclear calendar does not take time out for anyone or for anything. I speak about it now because when it comes to the survival of my country, it is not only my right to speak, it is my duty to speak.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“He said that for the ayatollahs of Iran mutually assured destruction is not a deterrent, it is an inducement. Iran’s apocalyptic leaders believe that a medieval holy man will reappear in the wake of a devastating holy war, thereby ensuring that their brand of radical Islam will rule the Earth. That is not just what they believe; it is what is actually guiding their policies and their actions. Just listen to Ayatollah Rafsanjani who said, “the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything, however it would only harm the Islamic world.” Rafsanjani said: “It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality”. “Not irrational” is what he said. And that is coming from one of the so-called moderates of Iran.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Imagine their long- range missiles tipped with nuclear warheads, their terror networks armed with atomic bombs. Who here would feel safe in the Middle East? Who would be safe in Europe? Who would be safe in America? Who would be safe anywhere? There are those who believe that a nuclear-armed Iran can be deterred like the Soviet Union. That is a very dangerous assumption. Militant jihadists behave very differently from secular Marxists. There were no Soviet suicide bombers. Yet Iran produces hordes of them. Deterrence worked with the Soviets, because every time the Soviets faced a choice between their ideology and their survival, they chose their survival. But deterrence may not work with the Iranians once they get nuclear weapons. A great scholar of the Middle East, Professor Bernard Lewis, put it best.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“They have turned Lebanon and Gaza into terror strongholds, embedding nearly 100,000 missiles and rockets in civilian areas. Thousands of such rockets and missiles have already been fired at Israeli communities by their terrorist proxies. In the past year, they have spread their international terror networks to two dozen countries across five continents, from India and Thailand to Kenya and Bulgaria. They have even plotted to blow up a restaurant a few blocks from the White House in order to kill a diplomat. And of course, Iran’s rulers repeatedly deny the Holocaust and call for Israel’s destruction almost on a daily basis, as they did again this week from the United Nations. So I ask, given this record of Iranian aggression without nuclear weapons, just imagine Iranian aggression with nuclear weapons.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“It makes little difference whether these lethal weapons are in the hands of the world’s most dangerous terrorist regime or the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization. They are both fired by the same hatred; they are both driven by the same lust for violence. Just look at what the Iranian regime has done up until now, without nuclear weapons. In 2009, they brutally put down mass protests for democracy in their own country. Today, their henchmen are participating in the slaughter of tens of thousands of Syrian civilians, including thousands of children — directly participating in those murders. They abetted the killing of American soldiers in Iraq and continue to do so in Afghanistan. Before that, Iranian proxies killed hundreds of American troops in Beirut and in Saudi Arabia.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“It is how many lives will be lost before it is defeated. We have seen that happen before too. Some 70 years ago, the world saw another fanatic ideology bent on world conquest. It went down in flames, but not before it took millions of people with it. Those who opposed that fanaticism waited too long to act. In the end they triumphed, but at a horrific cost. My friends, we cannot let that happen again. At stake is not merely the future of my own country. At stake is the future of the world. Nothing could imperil our common future more than the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons. To understand what the world would be like with a nuclear-armed Iran, just imagine the world with a nuclear-armed Al-Qaida.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“That intolerance is directed first at their fellow Muslims and then at Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, secular people, and anyone who does not submit to their unforgiving creed. They want to drag humankind back to an age of unquestioning dogma and unrelenting conflict. I am sure of one thing. Ultimately, they will fail. Ultimately, light will penetrate the darkness. We have seen that happen before. Some 500 years ago, the printing press helped pry a cloistered Europe out of a dark age. Eventually, ignorance gave way to enlightenment. So too, a cloistered Middle East will eventually yield to the irresistible power of freedom and technology. When that happens, our region will be guided not by fanaticism and conspiracy but by reason and curiosity. I think the relevant question is not whether this fanaticism will be defeated.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Israel wants to see a Middle East of progress and peace. We want to see the three great religions that sprang forth from our region — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — coexist in peace and in mutual respect. Yet the medieval forces of radical Islam, which the world just saw storming American Embassies throughout the Middle East, oppose that. They seek supremacy over all Muslims. They are bent on world conquest. They want to destroy Israel, Europe, America. They want to extinguish freedom. They want to end the modern world. Militant Islam has many branches, from the rulers of Iran with their Revolutionary Guards to Al-Qaida terrorists to the radical cells lurking in every part of the globe. But despite their differences, they are all rooted in the same bitter soil of intolerance.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“I know that that is not going to be spoken by speakers at this podium, but it is the truth. It is important that the world be aware of that truth. It is because Israel cherishes life that Israel cherishes peace and seeks peace. We seek to preserve our historic ties and our historic peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. We seek to forge a durable peace with the Palestinians. President Abbas just spoke here. I say to him and I say to the Assembly: we will not solve our conflict with libellous speeches at the United Nations. That is not the way to solve it. We will not solve our conflict with unilateral declarations of statehood. We have to sit together, negotiate together and reach a mutual compromise, in which a demilitarized Palestinian State recognizes the one and only Jewish State.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Recently, I was deeply moved when I visited Technion, one of our technological institutes in Haifa, and I saw a man paralysed from the waist down climb up a f light of stairs, quite easily, with the aid of an Israeli invention. And Israel’s exceptional creativity is matched by our people’s remarkable compassion. When disaster strikes anywhere in the world — in Haiti, Japan, India, Turkey, Indonesia and elsewhere — Israeli doctors are among the first on the scene, performing lifesaving surgeries. In the past year, I lost both my father and my father-in-law. In the same hospital wards where they were treated, Israeli doctors were treating Palestinian Arabs. In fact, every year, thousands of Arabs from the Palestinian territories and Arabs from throughout the Middle East come to Israel to be treated in Israeli hospitals by Israeli doctors.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The forces of medievalism seek a world in which women and minorities are subjugated, in which knowledge is suppressed, in which not life but death is glorified. Those forces clash around the globe, but nowhere more starkly than in the Middle East. Israel stands proudly with the forces of modernity. We protect the rights of all our citizens, men and women, Jews and Arabs, Muslims and Christians — all are equal before the law. Israel is also making the world a better place. Our scientists win Nobel Prizes. Our know-how is in every cell phone and computer that every one of us uses. We prevent hunger by irrigating arid lands in Africa and Asia.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“We celebrate the heroism of our young men and women who have defended our people with the indomitable courage of Joshua, David and the Maccabees of old. We celebrate the marvel of the flourishing modern Jewish State. In Israel we walk the same paths as those trodden by our patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But we blaze new trails in science, technology, medicine and agriculture. In Israel the past and the future find common ground. Unfortunately, that is not the case in many other countries. For today, a great battle is being waged between the modern and the medieval. The forces of modernity seek a bright future in which the rights of all are protected, in which an ever-expanding digital library is available in the palm of every child, in which every life is sacred.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The masses of our people never gave up the dream of returning to our ancient homeland. Defying the laws of history, we did just that. We ingathered the exiles, restored our independence and rebuilt our national life. The Jewish people have come home. We will never be uprooted again. Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Every year, for over three millennia, we have come together on this day of reflection and atonement. We take stock of our past. We pray for our future. We remember the sorrows of our persecution; we remember the great travails of our dispersion; we mourn the extermination of a third of our people, 6 million, in the Holocaust. But at the end of Yom Kippur, we celebrate. We celebrate the rebirth of Israel.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“It is a pleasure to see the General Assembly presided over by the Ambassador from Israel, and it is good to see all of the representatives here. Three thousand years ago, King David reigned over the Jewish State in our eternal capital, Jerusalem. I say that to all those who proclaim that the Jewish State has no roots in our region and that it will soon disappear. Throughout our history, the Jewish people have overcome all the tyrants who have sought our destruction. It is their ideologies that have been discarded by history. The people of Israel live on. We say in Hebrew, the Jewish State will live forever. The Jewish people have lived in the land of Israel for thousands of years. Even after most of our people were exiled from it, Jews continued to live in the land of Israel throughout the ages.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2012Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Let us, as we say in the Middle East, talk dugri. That means “straightforward”. I will tell him my needs and concerns; he will tell me his. And with God’s help, we will find the common ground of peace. There is an old Arab saying that one cannot applaud with one hand. Well, the same is true of peace. I cannot make peace alone. I cannot make peace without an interlocutor. President Abbas, I extend my hand — the hand of Israel — in peace. I hope that he will grasp that hand. We are both the sons of Abraham. My people call him Avraham; his people call him Ibrahim. We share the same patriarch. We dwell in the same land. Our destinies are intertwined. Let us realize the vision of Isaiah: “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light”. (The Holy Bible, Isaiah 9:2). Let that light be the light of peace.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Must this conflict continue for generations, or will we enable our children and our grandchildren to speak in the years ahead of how we found a way to end it? That is what we should aim for, and that is what I believe we can achieve. In two and a half years, President Abbas and I have met in Jerusalem only once, even though my door has always been open to him. If he wishes, I will come to Ramallah. Actually, I have a better suggestion. We have both just flown thousands of miles to New York. 41 11-51185 Now we are in the same city; we are in the same building. So let us meet here today, at the United Nations. Who is there to stop us? What is there to stop us? If we genuinely want peace, what is there to stop us from meeting today and beginning peace negotiations? I suggest that we talk openly and honestly. Let us listen to one another.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“No Prime Minister had done that before, ever. Once again, I hear applause, but there was no response. No response. In the past few weeks, American officials have put forward ideas to restart peace talks. There were things in those ideas about borders that I did not like. There were things there about the Jewish State that I am sure the Palestinians did not like. But despite all of my reservations, I was willing to move forward on those American ideas. Why does President Abbas not join me? We have to stop negotiating about the negotiations. Let us just get on with it. Let us negotiate peace. I spent years defending Israel on the battlefield. I spent decades defending Israel in the court of public opinion. President Abbas has dedicated his life to advancing the Palestinian cause.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“As the Prime Minister of Israel, I speak for a hundred generations of Jews who were dispersed throughout the lands and suffered every evil under the sun, but who never gave up hope of restoring their national life in the one and only Jewish State. I continue to hope that President Abbas will be my partner in peace. I have worked hard to advance that peace. The day I came into office, I called for direct negotiations without preconditions. President Abbas did not respond. I outlined a vision of peace of two States for two peoples. He still did not respond. I removed hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints to ease freedom of movement in the Palestinian areas. This facilitated fantastic growth in the Palestinian economy. But again, there was no response. I took the unprecedented step of freezing new building in the settlements for 10 months.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“My first name, Benjamin, can be traced back a 1,000 years to Benjamin — Binyamin — the son of Jacob, who was also known as Israel. Jacob and his 12 sons roamed these same hills of Judea and Samaria 4,000 years ago, and there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land ever since. Those Jews who were exiled from our land — Jews in Spain, on the eve of their expulsion; Jews in Ukraine, fleeing the pogroms; Jews fighting in the Warsaw Ghetto, as the Nazis were circling around it — never stopped dreaming of coming back. They never stopped praying, they never stopped yearning. They whispered: “Next year in Jerusalem. Next year in the promised land”.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“And we will know that they are ready for compromise and peace when they start taking Israel’s security requirements seriously and when they stop denying our historical connection to our ancient homeland. I often hear them accuse Israel of Judaizing Jerusalem. That is like accusing America of Americanizing Washington, D.C., or the British of Anglicizing London. Why are we called Jews? Because we come from Judea. In my office in Jerusalem, there is an ancient seal. It is a signet ring of a Jewish official from the time of the Bible. The seal was found right next to the Western Wall and it dates back 2,700 years to the time of King Hezekiah. Now, the name of a Jewish official is inscribed on the ring in Hebrew. His name was Netanyahu. That is my last name.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“I think it is time that the Palestinian leadership recognize what every serious international leader from Lord Balfour and David Lloyd George in 1917, to President Truman in 1948, to President Obama just two days ago right here, has recognized — that Israel is the Jewish State. I would ask President Abbas to stop walking around this issue, recognize the Jewish State, and make peace with us. In such a genuine peace, Israel is prepared to make painful compromises. We believe that the Palestinians should be neither the citizens of Israel nor its subjects. They should live in a free State of their own. But they should be ready, like us, for compromise.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Maybe that is what he meant the other day when he said that Israel had been occupying 11-51185 40 Palestinian land for 63 years. He did not say from 1967; he said from 1948. I hope that somebody will bother to ask him this question, because it illustrates a simple truth. The core of the conflict is not the settlements; the settlements are a result of the conflict. The settlements are an issue that has to be addressed and resolved in the course of negotiations. But the core of the conflict has always been, and unfortunately remains, the refusal of the Palestinians to recognize a Jewish State within any border.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“There are laws today in Ramallah that make the selling of land to Jews punishable by death. That is racism. And the Assembly knows which laws this evokes. Israel has no intention whatsoever of changing the democratic character of our State. We just do not want the Palestinians to try to change the Jewish character of our State. We want them to give up the fantasy of flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians. President Abbas just stood here and said that the settlements lie at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. Well, that is odd. Our conflict was raging for nearly half a century before there was a single Israeli settlement in the West Bank. So, if what President Abbas is saying was true, then I guess that the settlements he is talking about are Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jaffa and Be?er Sheva.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Last year in Israel at Bar-Ilan University, and this year in the Knesset and the United States Congress, I laid out my vision for peace, in which a demilitarized Palestinian State recognizes the Jewish State. Yes, the Jewish State. After all, this is the body that recognized the Jewish State 64 years ago. Now, does the Assembly not think that it is about time that Palestinians did the same? The Jewish State of Israel will always protect the rights of all of its minorities, including the more than 1 million Arab citizens of Israel. I wish I could say the same thing about a future Palestinian State, for as Palestinian officials made clear the other day — in fact, I think they did so right here in New York — the Palestinian State would not allow any Jews. They would be Jew-free — Judenrein. That is ethnic cleansing.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“After such a peace agreement is signed, Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian State as a new Member of the United Nations. We will be the first. There is one more thing. Hamas has been violating international law by holding our soldier Gilad Shalit captive for five years. They have not allowed even one Red Cross visit. He is held in a dungeon, in darkness, against all international norms. Gilad Shalit is the son of Aviva and Noam Shalit. He is the grandson of Zvi Shalit, who escaped the Holocaust by coming to the land of Israel as a boy in the 1930s. Gilad Shalit is the son of every Israeli family. Every nation represented here should demand his immediate release. If we want to adopt a resolution about the Middle East today, that is the resolution we should adopt.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“And how will we stop the smuggling into the West Bank? It is not merely the West Bank; it is the West Bank mountains, which dominate the coastal plain below where most of Israel’s population sits. How could we prevent the smuggling into those mountains of missiles that could be fired at our cities? I bring up these problems because they are not theoretical problems. They are very real, and for Israelis, they are life-and-death matters. All of these potential cracks in Israel’s security have to be sealed in a peace agreement before a Palestinian State is declared, not afterwards, because if it is left until afterwards they will not be sealed. And these problems will explode in our face and explode the peace. The Palestinians should first make peace with Israel and then get their State. But I also want to say this.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The United States has had troops in Japan, Germany and South Korea for more than a half a century. Britain has an air base in Cyprus. France has forces in three independent African nations. None of those States claim that they are not sovereign countries. There are many other vital security issues that also must be addressed. Take the issue of airspace. Again, Israel’s small dimensions create huge security problems. The United States can be crossed by jet airplane in six hours. To fly across Israel, it takes three minutes. So is Israel’s tiny airspace to be chopped in half and given to a Palestinian State not at peace with Israel? Our major international airport is a few kilometres from the West Bank. Without peace, will our planes become targets for anti-aircraft missiles placed in the adjacent Palestinian State?”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“So how does one protect such a tiny country, surrounded by people sworn to its destruction and armed to the teeth by Iran? Obviously, one cannot defend it from within that narrow space alone. Israel 39 11-51185 needs greater strategic depth, and that is exactly why Security Council resolution 242 (1967) did not require Israel to leave all of the territories it captured in the Six-Day War. It talked about withdrawal from territories to secure and defensible boundaries. And to defend itself, Israel must therefore maintain a long- term Israeli military presence in critical strategic areas in the West Bank. I explained this to President Abbas. He answered that if a Palestinian State was to be a sovereign country, it could never accept such arrangements. Why not?”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“It is better to receive bad press than a good eulogy, and better still would be a fair press whose sense of history extends beyond breakfast and that recognizes Israel’s legitimate security concerns. I believe that in serious peace negotiations, these needs and concerns can be properly addressed, but they will not be addressed without negotiations. And the needs are many, because Israel is such a tiny country. Without Judea and Samaria — the West Bank — Israel is all of nine miles wide. I want to put that in perspective for all of us in this city. It is about two-thirds the length of Manhattan. It is the distance between Battery Park and Columbia University. And let us not forget that the people who live in Brooklyn and New Jersey are considerably nicer than some of Israel’s neighbours.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“Many of Israel’s critics ignore them. They irresponsibly advise Israel to go down this same perilous path again. We read what these people say and it is as if nothing happened. They just repeat the same advice and the same formulas as though none of this happened. And these critics continue to press Israel to make far-reaching concessions without first assuring Israel’s security. They praise those who unwittingly feed the insatiable crocodile of militant Islam as bold statesmen. They cast as enemies of peace those of us who insist that we must first erect a sturdy barrier to keep the crocodile out, or at the very least jam an iron bar between its gaping jaws. So in the face of the labels and the libels, Israel must heed better advice.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“So it might be understand, given all this, why Israelis rightly ask, “What is to prevent this from happening again in the West Bank?” Most of the major cities in the south of our country are within a few dozen kilometres from Gaza, but in the centre of the country opposite the West Bank, our cities are a few hundred metres or at most a few kilometres from the edge of the West Bank. So I want to ask: Would anyone here bring danger so close to their cities and families? Would they act so recklessly with the lives of their citizens? Israel is prepared to have a Palestinian State in the West Bank, but we are not prepared to have another Gaza there. And that is why we need to have real security arrangements, which the Palestinians simply refuse to negotiate with us. Israelis remember the bitter lessons of Gaza.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“The theory says that it should have all worked out, and that President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority could now build a peaceful state in Gaza. We all remember that the entire world applauded our withdrawal as an act of great statesmanship and a bold act of peace. But we did not get peace. We got war. We got Iran, which, through its proxy, Hamas, promptly kicked out the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority collapsed in a day — in one day. President Abbas just said from this rostrum that the Palestinians are armed only with their hopes and dreams. Yes, they are armed with their hopes, dreams and 10,000 missiles and Grad rockets supplied by Iran, not to mention the river of lethal weapons now flowing into Gaza from the Sinai, from Libya and from elsewhere. Thousands of missiles have already rained down on our cities.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“And I regret to say that international troops, including those of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and the European Union Border Assistance Mission in Gaza, did not stop the radicals from attacking Israel. We left Gaza hoping for peace. We did not freeze the settlements in Gaza; we uprooted them. We did exactly what the theory says. We got out, went back to the 1967 borders and dismantled the settlements. I do not think people remember how far we went to achieve this. We uprooted thousands of people from their homes. We pulled children out of their schools and their kindergartens. We bulldozed synagogues. We even moved loved ones from their graves. And then, having done all that, we gave the keys of Gaza to President Abbas.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.
“In 2000, Israel made a sweeping peace offer that met virtually all the Palestinian demands. Chairman Arafat rejected it. The Palestinians then launched a terror attack that claimed 1,000 Israeli lives. 11-51185 38 In 2008, Prime Minister Olmert afterwards made an even more sweeping offer. President Abbas did not even respond to it. But Israel did more than just make sweeping offers. We actually left territory. We withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 and from every square inch of Gaza in 2005. That did not calm the militant Islamic storm that threatens us. It only brought the storm closer and made it stronger. Hizbullah and Hamas fired thousands of rockets against our cities from the very territories we had vacated. When Israel left Lebanon and Gaza, the moderates did not defeat the radicals; the moderates were devoured by the radicals.”
UN General Assembly24 September 2011Source: United NationsSpeech held by session and year. Its individual meeting record is not yet linked.
English text from the UN verbatim record. Where the speaker did not speak English, this is the UN's interpretation, not their original words.