UNITED NATIONS (TURKISH JOURNAL) – BY Janet Ekstract – New York- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the United Nations on Wednesday to promote the UN exhibition, entitled “3,000 years of History: Jews in Jerusalem,” reminded the press that there are still those who deny Jewish history. He commented “There is a long history being cherished by us and friends of the Jewish people but it is being denied by others.”
The current exhibition at the UN “3,000 years of Jewish history”, long before the Christian era and Netanyahu speaking to a large press contingent from a number of nations, cautioned that the threat still remains and is still very real, relating to those who would prefer to “erase the history of our people, the connection to our lands and our connection to our eternal capital, Jerusalem.”
The Israeli prime minister, whose current trip included previous meetings on Capitol Hill as well as a short address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington D.C. on March 6, attended with his wife Sara, Israel’s Minister of Antiquities and Dani Danon, Israeli Ambassador to the UN to showcase the exhibition while praising talks he had with President Trump and members of Congress.
The Israeli leader expressed his delight at being at the UN for the exhibition while also commenting on the very positive talks with the Washington D.C. contingent: “I had a remarkable meeting with the President of the United States and Congress, both Republicans and Democrats.”
Netanyahu’s message was simple: “This exhibition would not have been possible ten years ago, we are changing Israel’s position in the world.” He continued by praising Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the UN, using the term “Hurricane Haley,” to describe what he termed as her “magnificent work for Israel.”
Israel’s prime minister also reiterated that the capital of Israel belongs in Jerusalem and commented on Iran’s position toward Israel. “Iran not only wishes to extinguish our history but our history of time.”
Netanyahu did reflect on some positive points though when he remarked: “I have no quarrels with the citizens of Iran, we do have a quarrel with the tyrants in Iran.”
During the prime minister’s most recent AIPAC talk, he had also expressed his disdain and caution about Iran’s intentions related to Israel and nuclear armament. Netanyahu had spoken out against the Iranian regime before in 2015 when the Obama administration cut a deal with Iran that Netanyahu warned would eventually prove disastrous. At that time, the Israeli prime minister said the deal would spur a uranium enrichment drive across the Middle East.
The words he spoke today at the UN press briefing echoed those sentiments: “The best way to prevent nuculearization of the Middle East is to either “cut off Iran” or take other drastic measures, he said. Netanyahu commented that his 2015 prediction about Iran is now shaping up to be a reality. As he expressed at AIPAC, “We have to deal with this challenge.” He also told AIPAC attendees on Tuesday, “If I have a message for you today, it’s a very simple one: We must stop Iran. We will stop Iran.”
The prime minister said “I’m committed to peace” but he also added “we cannot negotiate peace,” referring to the fact that Israel’s security is first and foremost his priority.
Netanyahu expressed his sentiments as follows: “Thank you for standing up for Israel and truth.” Still, those sentiments were tinged with a solid warning: “Iran wishes to extinguish our present and our future, we will not let that happen.”
