Most of Netanyahu’s 43-minute speech was focused on the threat posed by Iran. But toward the end, he responded to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ U.N. speech on Wednesday, in which Abbas said recent Israeli security actions at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem could ignite a religious war.
Netanyahu told the General Assembly that Abbas should stop “spreading lies about Israel’s alleged intentions on the Temple Mount,” and return to direct negotiations to secure peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
“Temple Mount,” where Al-Aqsa is located, is the Israeli term for the location. It is one of the holiest sites in Islam and Judaism.
Abbas had accused Israel of undermining U.S. attempts at brokering peace, though Netanyahu placed the blame on the Palestinians.
Netanyahu also accused the General Assembly and the U.N. system as a whole of engaging in incessant, unjustified “Israel-bashing.” Twice during his speech – once at the beginning and again in the middle – he silently stared at the 193-nation General Assembly with an angry look on his face.
His second staredown with the assembly lasted for 45 seconds.
The prime minister also made clear that Israel would continue to use military force to repel attacks from Syria and to prevent the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is fighting in Syria alongside government forces, from acquiring key weapons.
“Israel will continue to respond forcefully to any attacks against it from Syria,” Netanyahu said, adding that it would also “prevent the transfer of strategic weapons to Hezbollah from and through Syrian territory.”
Editing by Jonathan Oatis
Article Appeared @http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/01/us-un-assembly-israel-idUSKCN0RV57K20151001