During a Friday speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump and the U.S. for helping to disable Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Netanyahu also chastised the leaders of France, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and other countries for “unconditionally” recognizing a Palestinian state.
The U.S. in June attacked three sites in Iran, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying the country’s nuclear program.
Trump later asserted that Iran’s key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated” in an address to the nation from the White House.
“I want to thank President Trump for his bold and decisive action,” Netanyahu told the Assembly. “President Trump and I promised to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. And we delivered on that promise.
“We removed an existential threat to Iran, to Israel, rather, and a mortal threat to the civilized world. We lifted a dark cloud that could have claimed millions and millions of lives. But, ladies and gentlemen, we must remain vigilant.”
He added that “we must not allow Iran to rebuild its military nuclear capacities. Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. These stockpiles must be eliminated.”
A few minutes later, the prime minister praised Trump for understanding “better than any other leader that Israel and America face a common threat.
“He showed the world that when Iran and its proxies murder Americans, take Americans hostage, shout Death to America, burn American flags, and try to assassinate the president of the United States. Try to assassinate the president of the United States not once, but twice. He showed them there is a price to pay for all that,” Netanyahu said of Trump.
“But regrettably, many leaders who are represented in this hall, they send a very different message.”
Netanyahu said international leaders recognizing a Palestinian state need to remember the atrocities committed by the Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, when roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and nearly 250 were taken hostage.
“They[the leaders] did so after the horrors committed by Hamas on Oct. 7,” Netanyahu said. “Horrors praised on that day by nearly 90% of the Palestinian population.
“Let me say that again. Nearly 90% of Palestinians supported the attack on Oct. 7. It’s not supported only. They celebrated it. They danced on the rooftops. They threw candies. That’s both in Gaza and in Judea, Samaria, the West Bank, as you call it.
“And it’s just the way they celebrated another horror. 911 they danced on the rooftops. They cheered. They threw candy.”
Netanyahu said countries supporting a Palestinian state also have sent a “clear” message.
“It’s a very clear message. Murdering Jews pays off,” he said. “Well, I have a message for these leaders. When the most savage terrorists on Earth are effusively praising your decision, you didn’t do something right. You did something wrong, horribly wrong. Your disgraceful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews and against innocent people everywhere. It will be a mark of shame on all of you.”
He added that although leaders say they believe in a two-state solution, Palestinians do not.
“The Palestinians, they don’t believe in the solution,” he said. “They never have. They don’t want a state next to Israel. They want a Palestinian state instead of Israel.
“And that’s why every time they were offered a Palestinian state but were required to end the conflict with Israel and recognize the Jewish state every time over the decades, they turned it down. And that is why every time they were given territory, they used it to attack us. In fact, they effectively had a Palestinian state in Gaza. So what did they do with that state? Peace? Coexistence? No, they attacked us time and time again, totally unprovoked.”
