The harsh condemnations leveled at Israel at the United Nations General Assembly will not be left unanswered: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to address all the accusations Monday evening in what he says will be a "razor sharp" speech. Netanyahu's address will focus on two main topics -- the Iranian threat and Israel's conflict with the Palestinians. These topics were selected in response to the General Assembly addresses given by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Speaking at the U.N. on Saturday, Abbas accused Israel of waging a "war of genocide" in the Gaza Strip, and asserted that Palestinians faced a future in a "most abhorrent form of apartheid" under Israeli rule. Abbas called 2014 "a year of a new war of genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian people," and asserted that Israel was not interested in peace. Upon arriving in New York on Sunday, Netanyahu met with Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi, marking the first meeting between Israeli and Indian premiers in over a decade. Netanyahu also invited Modi to visit Israel. "We are two old peoples, but we are also two democracies," Netanyahu told his Indian counterpart. "We are proud of rich traditions but also eager to seize the future. I believe that if we work together we can do so with benefits to both our peoples, and well beyond. This is a wonderful opportunity. We're very excited by the prospects of greater and greater ties with India. We think the sky is the limit." Speaking through an interpreter, Modi remarked that "there was a time in the city of Mumbai that Hebrew was officially taught at the universities. Even one of the mayors of Mumbai was from a Jewish family." Later, Netanyahu also met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. He is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the prime minister is scheduled to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the investigation into Israel's actions during the recent military campaign in Gaza. Netanyahu is accompanied by his wife Sara and his advisers Yitzhak Molcho and National Security Council Director Yossi Cohen.
Credit: GPO
According to reports, the two discussed the danger posed by Iran should it acquire nuclear weapons and the threat posed by Islamist terror to the world. The two also discussed possible economic and trade as well as defense cooperation.
