Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you greetings from
Jerusalem. The city in which the Jewish People’s hopes and prayers for peace
for all of humanity have echoed throughout the ages.
Thirty-one years ago, as
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, I stood at this podium for the first
time. I spoke that day against a resolution sponsored by Iran to expel Israel
from the United Nations.
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Then as now, the UN was obsessively hostile towards
Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. Then
as now, some sought to deny the one and only Jewish state a place among the
nations. I ended that first speech by saying:
Gentlemen, check your fanaticism at the door.
More than three decades later, as the Prime Minister
of Israel, I am again privileged to speak from this podium. And for me, that
privilege has always come with a moral responsibility to speak the truth. So
after three days of listening to world leaders praise the nuclear deal with
Iran, I begin my speech today by saying: Ladies and Gentlemen, check your
enthusiasm at the door.
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You see, this deal doesn’t make peace more likely. By
fueling Iran’s aggressions with billions of dollars in sanctions relief, it
makes war more likely.
Just look at what Iran has
done in the last six months alone, since the framework agreement was announced
in Lausanne. Iran boosted its supply of devastating weapons to Syria. Iran sent more soldiers of its Revolutionary Guard
into Syria. Iran sent thousands of Afghani and Pakistani Shi’ite fighters to
Syria. Iran did all this to prop up Assad’s
brutal regime.
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Iran also shipped tons of weapons and ammunition to
the Houthi rebels in Yemen, including another shipment just two days ago. Iran threatened to topple Jordan. Iran’s proxy Hezbollah smuggled into Lebanon SA-22 missiles to
down our planes, and Yakhont cruise missiles to sink our ships. Iran supplied Hezbollah with precision-guided
surface-to-surface missiles and attack drones so it can accurately hit any
target in Israel.
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Iran aided Hamas and Islamic Jihad in building armed
drones in Gaza. Iran also made clear its plans
to open two new terror fronts against Israel, promising to arm Palestinians in
the West Bank and sending its Revolutionary Guard generals to the Golan Heights,
from which its operatives recently fired rockets on northern Israel.
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Israel will continue to respond forcefully to any
attacks against it from Syria. Israel will continue to act to prevent the
transfer of strategic weapons to Hezbollah from and through Syrian territory. Every
few weeks, Iran and Hezbollah set up new terror cells in cities throughout the
world. Three such cells were recently uncovered in Kuwait, Jordan and Cyprus. In May, security forces in Cyprus raided a Hezbollah agent’s
apartment in the city of Larnaca. There they found five tons of ammonium
nitrate, that’s roughly the same amount of ammonium nitrate that was used to
blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City. And that’s just in one
apartment, in one city, in one country.
But Iran is setting up dozens of terror cells like
this around the world, ladies and gentlemen, they’re setting up those terror
cells in this hemisphere too. I repeat: Iran’s been doing all of this,
everything that I’ve just described,
just in the last six months, when it was trying to convince the world to
remove the sanctions.
Now just imagine what Iran will do after those
sanctions are lifted. Unleashed and un-muzzled, Iran will go on the prowl,
devouring more and more prey. In the wake of the nuclear deal, Iran is spending
billions of dollars on weapons and satellites. You think Iran is doing that to
advance peace? You think hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief
and fat contracts will turn this rapacious tiger into a kitten?
If you do, you should think again. In 2013 president
Rouhani began his so-called charm offensive here at the UN. Two years later,
Iran is executing more political prisoners, escalating its regional aggression,
and rapidly expanding its global terror network.
You know they say, actions speak louder than words. But
in Iran’s case, the words speak as loud as the actions. Just listen to the
Deputy Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Quds Force. Here’s what he said
in February: “The Islamic revolution is not limited by geographic borders….” He
boasted that Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Yemen are among
the countries being “conquered by the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Conquered.
And for those of you who believe that the deal in
Vienna will bring a change in Iran’s policy, just listen to what Iran’s Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said five days after the nuclear deal was reached: “Our policies towards the arrogant government of the United
States will not change.” The United States, he vowed, will continue to
be Iran’s enemy. While giving the mullahs more
money is likely to fuel more repression inside Iran, it will definitely fuel
more aggression outside Iran. As the leader of a
country defending itself every day against Iran’s growing aggression, I wish I
could take comfort in the claim that this deal blocks Iran’s path to nuclear
weapons.
But I can’t, because it doesn’t. This deal does place
several constraints on Iran’s nuclear program. And rightly so, because the
international community recognizes that Iran is so dangerous. But you see
here’s the catch: Under this deal, If Iran doesn’t change its behavior, In
fact, if it becomes even more dangerous in the years to come, the most
important constraints will still be automatically lifted by year 10 and by year
15. That would place a militant Islamic terror regime weeks away from having
the fissile material for an entire arsenal of nuclear bombs.
That just doesn’t make any sense. I’ve said that if
Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal
country. But this deal, this deal will treat Iran like a normal country even if
it remains a dark theocracy that conquers its neighbors, sponsors terrorism
worldwide and chants “Death to Israel”, “Death to America.”
Does anyone seriously believe that flooding a radical
theocracy with weapons and cash will curb its appetite for aggression? Do any
of you really believe that a theocratic Iran with sharper claws and sharper
fangs will be more likely to change its stripes? So here’s a general rule that
I’ve learned and you must have learned in your life time – When bad behavior is
rewarded, it only gets worse. Sound of applaud.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have long said that the
greatest danger facing our world is the coupling of militant Islam with nuclear
weapons. And I’m gravely concerned that the nuclear deal with Iran will prove
to be the marriage certificate of that unholy union. I know that some
well-intentioned people sincerely believe that this deal is the best way to
block Iran’s path to the bomb.
But one of history’s most
important yet least learned lessons is this: The best intentions don’t prevent
the worst outcomes. The vast majority of Israelis believe that this
nuclear deal with Iran is a very bad deal. And what makes matters even worse is
that we see a world celebrating this bad deal, rushing to embrace and do
business with a regime openly committed to our destruction.
Last week, Major General Salehi, the commander of
Iran’s army, proclaimed this: “We will annihilate Israel for sure.” “We are
glad that we are in the forefront of executing the Supreme Leader’s order to
destroy Israel.”
And as for the Supreme Leader himself, a few days
after the nuclear deal was announced, he released his latest book. Here it is. It’s
a 400-page screed detailing his plan to destroy the State of Israel.
Last month, Khamenei once again made his genocidal
intentions clear before Iran’s top clerical body, the Assembly of Experts. He
spoke about Israel, home to over six million Jews. He pledged, “there will be
no Israel in 25 years.” Seventy years after the murder of six million Jews,
Iran’s rulers promise to destroy my country, murder my people.
And the response from this body, the response from
nearly every one of the governments represented here has been absolutely
nothing! Utter silence! Deafening silence! [45 seconds
of silence]
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Perhaps you can now understand why Israel is not
joining you in celebrating this deal. If Iran’s rulers were working to destroy
your countries, perhaps you’d be less enthusiastic about the deal. If Iran’s
terror proxies were firing thousands of rockets at your cities, perhaps you’d
be more measured in your praise. And if this deal were unleashing a nuclear
arms race in your neighborhood, perhaps you’d be more reluctant to celebrate.
But don’t think that Iran is only a danger to Israel.
Besides Iran’s aggression in the Middle East and its terror around the world,
Iran is also building intercontinental ballistic missiles whose sole purpose is
to carry nuclear warheads. Now remember this: Iran already has missiles that
can reach Israel. So those intercontinental ballistic missiles that Iran is building –
they’re not meant for us – They’re meant for you. For Europe. For America. For
raining down mass destruction – anytime, anywhere.
Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s not easy to oppose
something that is embraced by the greatest powers in the world. Believe me, it
would be far easier to remain silent. But throughout our history, the Jewish
people have learned the heavy price of silence. And as the Prime Minister of
the Jewish State, as someone who knows that history, I refuse to be silent. Sound of applaud.
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I’ll say it again: The days when the Jewish people
remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies – those days are over. Sound of applaud. Not being passive means speaking
up about those dangers. We have. We are. We will. Not being passive also means
defending ourselves against those dangers. We have. We are. And we will. Sound of applaud.
Israel will not allow Iran to break-in, to sneak-in
or to walk-in to the nuclear weapons club. Sound of
applaud. I know that preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons
remains the official policy of the international community. But no one should
question Israel’s determination to defend itself against those who seek our
destruction.
For in every generation, there were those who rose up
to destroy our people. In antiquity, we faced destruction from the ancient
empires of Babylon and Rome. In the Middle Ages, we faced inquisition and
expulsion. And In modern times, we faced pogroms and the Holocaust. Yet the
Jewish people persevered. And now another regime has arisen, swearing to
destroy Israel. That regime would be wise to consider this: I stand here today
representing Israel, a country 67 years young, but the nation-state of a people
nearly 4,000 years old.
Yet the empires of Babylon and Rome are not
represented in this hall of nations. Neither is the Thousand Year Reich. Those
seemingly invincible empires are long gone. But Israel lives. The people of
Israel live. Sound of applaud. עם
ישראל
חי.
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The re-birth of Israel is a testament to the
indomitable spirit of my people. For a hundred generations, the Jewish people
dreamed of returning to the Land of Israel. Even in our darkest hours, and we
had so many, even in our darkest hours we never gave up hope of rebuilding our
eternal capital Jerusalem. The establishment of Israel made realizing that
dream possible. It has enabled us to live as a free people in our ancestral homeland.
It’s enabled us to embrace Jews who’ve come from the four corners of the earth
to find refuge from persecution. They came from war-torn Europe, from Yemen,
Iraq, Morocco, from Ethiopia and the Soviet Union, from a hundred other lands. And
today, as a rising tide of anti-Semitism once again sweeps across Europe and
elsewhere, many Jews come to Israel to join us in building the Jewish future.
So here’s my message to the rulers of Iran: Your plan
to destroy Israel will fail. Sound of applaud. Israel
will not permit any force on earth to threaten its future. And here’s my message to all the countries represented here:
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Whatever resolutions you may
adopt in this building, whatever decisions you may take in your capitals,
Israel will do whatever it must do to defend our state and to defend our
people. Sound of applaud.
Distinguished delegates, As this deal with Iran moves
ahead, I hope you’ll enforce it… how can I put this? With a little more rigor
than you showed with the six Security Council resolutions that Iran has
systematically violated and which now have been effectively discarded. Make
sure that the inspectors actually inspect. Make sure that the snapback
sanctions actually snap back. And make sure that Iran’s violations aren’t swept
under the Persian rug. Sound of applaud. Well,
of one thing I can assure you: Israel will be watching… closely.
What the international community now needs to do is
clear: First, make Iran comply with all its nuclear obligations. Keep Iran’s
feet to the fire. Sound of applaud. Second,
check Iran’s regional aggression. Support and strengthen those fighting Iran’s
aggression, beginning with Israel. Third, use sanctions and all the tools
available to you to tear down Iran’s global terror network.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Israel is working closely with
our Arab peace partners to address our common security challenges from Iran and
also the security challenges from ISIS and from others. We are also working
with other states in the Middle East as well as countries in Africa, in Asia
and beyond. Many in our region know that both Iran and ISIS are our common
enemies. And when your enemies fight each other, don’t strengthen either one –
weaken both.
Common dangers are clearly bringing Israel and its
Arab neighbors closer. And as we work together to thwart those dangers, I hope
we’ll build lasting partnerships – lasting partnerships for security, for
prosperity and for peace. But in Israel, we never
forget one thing. We never forget that the most important partner that Israel has
has always been, and will always be, the United States of America. Sound of applaud.
The alliance between Israel and the United States is
unshakeable. Sound of applaud. President
Obama and I agree on the need to keep arms out of the hands of Iran’s terror
proxies. We agree on the need to stop Iran from destabilizing countries
throughout the Middle East.
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Israel deeply appreciates President Obama’s
willingness to bolster our security, help Israel maintain its qualitative
military edge and help Israel confront the enormous challenges we face. Israel
is grateful that this sentiment is widely shared by the American people and its
representatives in Congress, by both those who supported the deal and by those
who opposed it. Sound of applaud. President Obama
and I have both said that our differences over the nuclear deal are a
disagreement within the family.
But we have no disagreement about the need to work
together to secure our common future. And what a great future it could be. Israel
is uniquely poised to seize the promise of the 21st century. Israel is a world
leader in science and technology, in cyber, software, water, agriculture, medicine,
biotechnology and so many other fields that are being revolutionized by Israeli
ingenuity and Israeli innovation. Israel is the innovation nation. Sound of applaud.
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We are so proud in Israel of the long strides our
country has made in such a short time. We’re so proud that our small country is
making such a huge contribution to the entire world. Yet the dreams of our
people, enshrined for eternity by the great prophets of the Bible, those dreams
will be fully realized only when there is peace.
As the Middle East descends into chaos, Israel’s
peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan are two cornerstones of stability. Israel
remains committed to achieving peace with the Palestinians as well. Sound of applaud.
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Israelis know the price of war. I know the price of
war. I was nearly killed in battle. I lost many friends. I lost my beloved
brother Yoni. Those who know the price of war can best appreciate what the
blessings of peace would mean – for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren.
I am prepared to immediately, immediately, resume
direct peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority without any
preconditions whatsoever. Sound of
applaud.
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Unfortunately, President Abbas said yesterday that he
is not prepared to do this. Well, I hope he changes his mind. Because I remain
committed to a vision of two states for two peoples, in which a demilitarized
Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state. You know, the peace process
began over two decades ago. Yet despite the best efforts of six Israeli prime
ministers – Rabin, Peres, Barak, Sharon, Olmert and myself – the Palestinians
have consistently refused to end the conflict and make a final peace with
Israel.
And unfortunately, you heard that rejectionism yet again only
yesterday from President Abbas. How can Israel make peace with a
Palestinian partner who refuses to even sit at the negotiating table? Israel
expects the Palestinian Authority to abide by its commitments. The Palestinians
should not walk away from peace.
President Abbas, I know it’s not easy. I know it’s
hard. But we owe it to our peoples to try, to continue to try, because
together, if we actually negotiate and stop negotiating about the negotiation,
if we actually sit down and try to resolve this conflict between us, recognize
each other, not use a Palestinian state as a stepping stone for another
Islamist dictatorship in the Middle East, but something that will live at peace
next to the Jewish state, if we actually do that, we can do remarkable things for
our peoples. Sound of applaud.
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The UN can help advance peace by supporting direct,
unconditional negotiations between the parties. The UN won’t help peace,
certainly won’t help advance peace by trying to impose solutions or by
encouraging Palestinian rejectionism. And the UN, distinguished delegates,
should do one more thing. The UN should finally rid itself of the obsessive
bashing of Israel. Here’s just one absurd example of this obsession: In four
years of horrific violence in Syria, more than a quarter of a million people
have lost their lives. That’s more than ten times, more than ten times, the
number of Israelis and Palestinians combined who have lost their lives in a
century of conflict between us.
Yet last year, this Assembly adopted 20 resolutions
against Israel and just one resolution about the savage slaughter in Syria. Talk
about injustice. Talk about disproportionality. Twenty. Count them. One against Syria. Well, frankly
I am not surprised. To borrow a line from Yogi Berra, the late, great baseball player and part
time philosopher: When it comes to the annual bashing of Israel at the
UN, it’s déjà vu all over again. Sound of applaud. Enough!
Thirty one years after I stood here for the first
time, I’m still asking: When will the UN finally check its anti-Israel
fanaticism at the door? When will the UN finally stop slandering Israel as a
threat to peace and actually start helping Israel advance peace? And the same
question should be posed to Palestinian leaders. When will you start working
with Israel to advance peace and reconciliation and stop libeling Israel, stop
inciting hatred and violence?
President Abbas, here’s a good place to begin: Stop
spreading lies about Israel’s alleged intentions on the Temple Mount. Israel is
fully committed to maintaining the status quo there. What
President Abbas should be speaking out against are the actions of militant
Islamists who are smuggling explosives into the al-Aqsa mosque and who are
trying to prevent Jews and Christians from visiting the holy sites. That’s
the real threat to these sacred sites.
A thousand years before the birth of Christianity,
more than 1,500 years before the birth of Islam, King David made Jerusalem our
capital, and King Solomon built the Temple on that mount. Yet Israel, Israel
will always respect the sacred shrines of all. In a region plagued by violence
and by unimaginable intolerance, in which Islamic fanatics are destroying the
ancient treasures of civilization, Israel stands out as a towering beacon of
enlightenment and tolerance. Far from endangering the holy sites, it is Israel
that ensures their safety. Sound of applaud. Because
unlike the powers who have ruled Jerusalem in the past, Israel respects the
holy sites and freedom of worship of all – Jews, Muslims, Christians, everyone. Sound of applaud.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, will never change. Because
Israel will always stay true to its values. These values are on display each
and every day: When Israel’s feisty parliament vigorously debates every issue
under the sun, When Israel’s Chief Justice sits in her chair at our fiercely
independent Supreme Court, When our Christian community continues to grow and
thrive from year to year, as Christian communities are decimated elsewhere in
the Middle East, When a brilliant young Israeli Muslim student gives her
valedictorian address at one of our finest universities, And when Israeli
doctors and nurses – doctors and nurses from the Israeli military – treat
thousands of wounded from the killing fields of Syria and thousands more in the
wake of natural disasters from Haiti to Nepal. This is the true face of Israel.
These are the values of Israel.
And In the Middle East, these values are under savage
assault by militant Islamists who are forcing millions of terrified people to
flee to distant shores. Ten miles from ISIS, a few hundred yards from Iran’s
murderous proxies, Israel stands in the breach – proudly and courageously,
defending freedom and progress. Israel is civilization’s front line in the
battle against barbarism.
So here’s a novel idea for the United Nations: Instead
of continuing the shameful routine of bashing Israel, stand with Israel. Stand
with Israel as we check the fanaticism at our door. Stand with Israel as we
prevent that fanaticism from reaching your door. Ladies and Gentlemen, Stand
with Israel because Israel is not just defending itself. More than ever, Israel
is defending you. Sound of applaud.
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