PM Netanyahu to urge a united stance on terrorism at UN

 

PM Netanyahu to urge a united stance on terrorism at UN 

„I will present Israel’s case, Israel’s truth, Israel’s justice and also Israel’s heroism,” PM says • Netanyahu, U.S. President Obama to meet on defense aid, Israeli-Palestinian conflict • Four Republican senators push to increase defense aid to Israel.

Shlomo Cesan, Eli Leon, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the U.N. General Assembly  |Photo credit: Avi Ohayon / GPO 
<< 1 2 3 >>

As a renewed wave of terrorist attacks washes over Israel and the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that his upcoming speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday will demand the international community to take a tougher stance on terrorism.

„I will present Israel’s case, Israel’s truth, Israel’s justice and also Israel’s heroism — the heroism of our soldiers, our police officers and our citizens, who are waging an uncompromising struggle against brutal terrorism,” Netanyahu said just before flying to New York on Tuesday.

„I expect from the international community a uniform standard in the war on terrorism,” he said. „Today the entire international community says that there is a need to wage a determined and uncompromising fight against terrorism. And indeed, they must also support the determined and uncompromising fight against terrorism, and this moral clarity is necessary to both fight against — and defeat — terrorism.”

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss this and other issues on Wednesday, The meeting will likely be their last before Obama’s final term ends in about two months’ time.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the landmark defense aid package signed between the two countries last week. „I will thank him [Obama] for the great and important security assistance to the State of Israel over the coming decade,” Netanyahu said.

Obama, for his part, plans to „discuss the need for genuine advancement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the face of deeply troubling trends on the ground,” according to White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser, told reporters Tuesday that the United States has discussed its concerns about Israeli settlements and „the potential viability of a Palestinian state in the face of that settlement activity. … I’m sure President Obama will do so tomorrow [at the meeting] as well.”

Some administration officials suspect Obama may use the meeting to lay out his own guidelines for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama also addressed the issue in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. „And surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land,” he said.

He also suggested that a „course correction” was necessary in global integration in order to successfully deal with world conflicts.

Speaking about the Middle East and the Islamic State group, Obama added, „If we are honest, we understand that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to coexist for long … until basic questions are answered about how communities coexist, the embers of extremism will continue to burn, countless human beings will suffer — most of all in that region — but extremism will continue to be exported overseas.”

He further explained that despite great progress, there is growing unrest and tension between nations.

„This is the paradox that defines our world today,” Obama said.

On the sidelines of the General Assembly, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss regional challenges and the possibility of a two-state solution.

Kerry stressed U.S. concerns over Palestinian violence and Israeli settlement construction, according to State Department Spokesman John Kirby.

Kirby said that Abbas and Kerry would „work with key partners to advance the prospects for peace, while opposing all efforts that would undermine that goal.”

Against the backdrop of the General Assembly, a bipartisan group of 88 senators published a public letter to Obama Monday, urging him to veto any one-sided security council resolutions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter was spearheaded by Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Republican Senator Mike Rounds.

„At this delicate stage the international community should both provide hope to the parties and avoid taking action that would harm the prospects for meaningful progress,” the letter said. „Even well-intentioned initiatives at the United Nations risk locking the parties into positions that will make it more difficult to return to the negotiating table and make the compromises necessary for peace.”

The letter expressed support for a two-state solution as the only way to solve the conflict between the two sides. „This outcome would provide Israel with greater security and strengthen regional stability,” the senators wrote. „We remain optimistic that, under the right circumstances, Israelis and Palestinians can successfully resume productive negotiations toward this goal.”

Meanwhile, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, John McCain and Ted Cruz held a press conference Tuesday demanding the $38 billion defense aid package for Israel be increased by $1.5 billion. The senators are further seeking to have Congress oversee the deal and to reinstate previous terms that would continue to allow Israel to convert 26% of the aid package to shekels for purchases from its own defense industry.