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Netanyahu delivers predictable speech fear-mongering on Iran

A word cloud for Benjamin Netanyahu's UN speech.
A word cloud for Benjamin Netanyahu’s UN speech.

This year at the United Nations General Assembly, there were no props of drawings with red lines on them. But aside from that, nothing much had changed in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to diplomats. The Israeli prime minister kept hammering away at what has become an utterly predictable point: Iran is on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons and they pose an existential threat to Israel. He opened up his speech with a reference to a “nuclear-armed Iran that seeks our destruction.”

Netanyahu’s speech was all about the Islamic Republic, and it was filled with the typical rhetorical flourishes the world has come to expect. “Rouhani thinks he can have his yellowcake and eat it too,” the prime minister said. He hit the familiar points: the Holocaust; the scourge of anti-Semitism; Iran’s sponsorship of overseas violence; and a demand for the Islamic Republic to capitulate to Israeli demands. You can watch it all here:

Haaretz‘s Barak Ravid aptly called the speech “tired, bothersome and boring.”

What was different this time was that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had come to town the week before, and had wowed diplomats with a conciliatory message. Gone was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s questioning of the Holocaust, his insinuation that 9/11 was an American plot. Instead, Rouhani came with a message that his country was not developing nuclear weapons, and was ready for negotiations with the West and the U.S. Last Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry met face to face with the Iranian foreign minister, and then the historic phone call between President Obama and Rouhani took place on Friday.

So Netanyahu came to spoil the positive atmosphere, and he didn’t disappoint. He clearly wishes Ahmadinejad was still in power. “Israel will never acquiesce to nuclear arms in the hands of a rogue regime that repeatedly promises to wipe us off the map. Against such a threat, Israel will have no choice but to defend itself,” he said.

He had four demands for Iran, which amount to a total cave-in that the country is never going to accept:

First, cease all uranium enrichment. This is called for by several Security Council resolutions. Second, remove from Iran’s territory the stockpiles of enriched uranium. Third, dismantle the infrastructure for nuclear breakout capability, including the underground facility at Qom and the advanced centrifuges in Natanz.

And, four, stop all work at the heavy water reactor in Iraq aimed at the production of plutonium. These steps would put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and eliminate its breakout capability.

And Netanyahu had demands for a different audience: the rest of the world. Here’s what he wants them to do:

First, keep up the sanctions. If Iran advances its nuclear weapons program during negotiations, strengthen the sanctions.

Second, don’t agree to a partial deal. A partial deal would lift international sanctions that have taken years to put in place in exchange for cosmetic concessions that will take only weeks for Iran to reverse.

Third, lift the sanctions only when Iran fully dismantles its nuclear weapons program. My friends, the international community has Iran on the ropes. If you want to knock out Iran’s nuclear weapons program peacefully, don’t let up the pressure. Keep it up.

Netanyahu eventually got to the Palestinians, but only devoted about 20 lines to them. He repeated his demand that “Palestinians must finally recognize the Jewish state, and Israel’s security needs must be met.”

The Israeli leader may be more comfortable talking about Iran than Palestine, but this year he was boxed in to a corner by the new Iranian leadership. Still, his words carry immense weight in the U.S., and they will hang over the air of future talks between Iran and the West.

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Good summary, though I think the overall tone was as important as his specific demands.

Netanyahu had not a single positive word for anyone. The speech was 100% Iran and 100% negative. The fabrications were obvious (Iran building ICBMs to “strike this very city”), of course, but more than that was the simple unending flow of hatred. The speech also highlighted how Netanyahu views the UN and the international community at large: it is solely a tool used for smiting his enemies, and if it fails in that then it is worthless and Israel will act “alone.” Strangest of all, it ended with weird messianism, talking of prophecies fulfilled and enternal states. That was completely off the deep end (unless the target was American evangelicals, which it likely was).

Quick game: An international leader repeatedly goes to the UN solely to denounce a single other country, making threats and pouring out hatred in religious terms. Who was it? A year ago, one might have answered Ahmadinejad. Today, Netanyahu easily claims the crown.

The speech was highly inflammatory… not a diplomatic bone in this man’s body.

NYTimes had a very small piece on his speech, which was overshadowed by the Shutdown coverage I am sure.

Obama needs to remember that we live in a small world now… whatever he says to Bibi to ‘reassure’ him is of course passed along to the rest of the world. Earlier on his Twitter account, Mr. Zarif alluded to the Obama-Netanyahu meeting on Monday in a message that read: “President Obama needs consistency to promote mutual confidence. Flip-flop destroys trust and undermines US credibility.”

I’m interested in knowing how many were present for the speech, which was the last iirc… surely everyone had gone home.

What I found most interesting in Netanyahu’s speech was that while Rouhani said the time of the tribal feuds is over, Netanyahu presented himself as the leader of the tribe of the Maccabees in a tribal bloodfeud of biblical proportions with the tribe of the Persians:

“What a disgrace, what a disgrace. The descendants of the Macabees lie in the mud powerless to defend themselves.” … Together we’ve transformed a bludgeoned Jewish people, left for dead, into a vibrant, thriving nation, a defending itself with the courage of modern Maccabees, developing limitless possibilities for the future. In our time the Biblical prophecies are being realized.

I’m not sure how the feeling of others is, but my view is that fighting tribal bloodfeuds in the 21. century doesn’t sound statesman-like, to me, it sounds more like archaic and medieval madness.

predictable, well that goes without saying. maybe it was just my imagination but i couldn’t help thinking the way he kept furtively raising his eyes to the audience to see was there anyone actually taking in his BS, in fact most of the audience look bored out of their minds.
the applause at the end was the lamest i ever seen, besides the few israelis clapping was there anyone else?

“A word cloud”

I squeezed and squagged with vigour no less
the assembled before me political mess
had it it all locked up tight ,sealed in lead
when out the top genie popped head
words of thunder escaped up into the air
formed dark clouds of heavy despair
on the horizon they slowly gathered
the word charade easily shattered

mcohen