Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran not to directly attack the Jewish state, as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Friday morning.
“If you strike us, we will strike you,” Netanyahu said.
“There is no place in Iran where the long arm of Israel can not reach,” Netanyahu said.
“Far from being lambs led to the slaughter, Israel will fight back,” Netanyahu said, adding, “We are winning.”
Netanyahu spoke to the plenum as his country is fighting a multi-front war against Iranian proxies, namely Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
He was greeted by loud applause from the Israeli delegation while the entire Iranian walked out as he strode to the podium.
Netanyahu explained that he had not wanted to come to the UN in the middle of those wars, but felt bound to so that he could speak Israel’s “truth” to the world.
Israel, he said, stands between “the curse of Iran or the blessing of a historic normalization between Arabs and Jews.”
He held up two maps, one showing what he described as Iran’s long aggressive arm and the other showing the regional potential of expanding Israeli-Arab ties. One map was titled “the curse,” and the other, “the blessing.”
“Iran’s aggression will endanger every single country in the Middle East and many countries in the rest of the world,” he said.
“For too long the world has appeased Iran, and turned a blind eye to its internal oppression and external aggression,” Netanyahu said.
He pledged not to allow Iran to acquire or develop nuclear weapons and asked the United Nations, particularly the Security Council to take steps to make sure that Iran does not become a nuclear power.
Netanyahu recalled the Hamas-led invasion of October 7, which sparked the Gaza war, and the Hezbollah attack on October 8, which sparked the constrained cross-border war along its northern border. This was followed by attacks from the Houthis in Yemen and a direct Iranian attack.
Turning to Gaza, he called on Hamas to release the remaining 101 hostages and pledged not to end the war in Gaza until it does so.
“All that has to happen” to end the Gaza war “is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its arms, and release all the hostages,” Netanyahu said.
“If they do not, we will fight until we achieve total victory, there is no substitute,” he said. A small group of relatives of hostages were in the gallery, listening to his speech.
With respect to Hezbollah, he charged that it was “the quintessential terror organization in the world today, it has murdered more Americans and Frenchmen than any [terror] group, except Iran,” Netanyahu stated.
Don’t let Hezbollah drag Lebanon into the abyss,” Netanyahu said, explaining that as long as Hezbollah. Remained on Israel’s northern border, “Israel has no choice and every right to remove this threat and return our citizens” safely to their homes, he said.
Meeting with Dutch counterpart
Earlier, the prime minister told his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof that Israel’s battle against Iranian proxies helps protect Western countries.
“Israel’s war against Iran’s axis of evil is vital not only in ensuring its future but also the future of the West as a whole,” the Prime Minister’s Office said as it described Netanyahu’s message to Schoof.
Netanyahu arrived in New York on Thursday morning, two days later than anticipated due to his decision to scale up IDF efforts to push Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon.
He took the step one year into the constrained IDF-Hezbollah cross-border war in a push to allow over 60,000 Israelis evacuated during the last year, to return home to their northern border communities.
Netanyahu is among scores of heads of state and government addressing the UN this week, to mark the high-level portion of its 79th opening session.
Many of the speakers called for ceasefires in Israel’s war against Iranian proxies Hamas on its southern border and Hezbollah on its northern one. In many cases, they painted Israel as the aggressor.
They have, in particular, called on Israel to halt its intense strikes on Hezbollah targets. Netanyahu is expected to make Israel’s case to the UNGA.
Existential threats
He also discussed the existential threats Israel faces with Schoof and Serbian President Aleksander Vucic. That conversation focused in particular on efforts for the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal to secure the release of the remaining 101 captives in that enclave.
Vucic spoke with Netanyahu about hostage Alon Ohel, 23, who holds Serbian citizenship.
“I would like to raise one issue which is of the utmost importance for us. It’s the hostage issue and we would like to see those people freed as soon as possible,” Vucic said.
“We have one Serbian citizen and we hope that if there are any chances to get these people back to their parents, to their kids, to their sisters and brothers, to their families, that would be very important for us.”
Netanyahu told Vucic, “The relations between Serbia and Israel are exceedingly good and getting better each day. “But we both have a goal – to return all our hostages safely back to Israel, including Alon Ohel, who is held captive by the Hamas terrorists. It’s unconscionable. The family is suffering.
“I appreciate the fact that you have extended your government’s support for this. All civilized countries have to stand together to end this monstrosity. So I thank you for your friendship and your efforts on behalf of the hostages,” Netanyahu said.
