Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday addressed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directly in his speech at the UN General Assembly, telling him that if he dares to threaten Israel with annihilation he will face no fiercer enemy, Jerusalem Post reports.
“Today I have a simple message for Ayatollah Khamenei, the dictator of Iran. The light of Israel will never be extinguished. Those who threaten us with annihilation put themselves in mortal peril,” Netanyahu warned and was met with a round of applause before he repeated the phrase in Hebrew.
Netanyahu’s speech began with enumerating Israel’s diplomatic breakthroughs, and how the country has significantly improved its relations with many countries because of what it has to offer in terms of technology and anti-terrorism expertise, and ended with a warning that it would not tolerate Iran’s efforts to establish permanent bases on Israel’s borders or open new terrorist fronts against Israel in Syria.
“Israel will defend itself with the full force of our arms and the full power of our convictions,” he continued. “We will act to prevent Iran from establishing permanent military bases in Syria for its air, sea and ground forces. We will act to prevent Iran from producing deadly weapons in Syria or in Lebanon for use against us. And we will act to prevent Iran from opening new terror fronts against Israel along our northern border.”
“As long as Iran seeks the destruction of Israel, Iran will face no fiercer enemy than Israel,” he concluded.
Speaking of Iranian nuclear deal, Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly that Israel’s policy on that is simple: “Fix it or nix it. Change it or cancel it,” saying it “not only doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb, but actually paves it.”
The sunset clause which sees restrictions on Iran lifted in 10-15 years is the most threatening aspect of a “bad” deal, Netanyahu asserted, because at that point “Iran will be free to enrich uranium on an industrial scale, placing it on the threshold of a massive arsenal of nuclear weapons.”
“The greatest danger is that Iran will not be able to build a single bomb by breaking the deal. But they will able to build many nuclear bombs by keeping the deal. Imagine the danger of hundreds of nuclear weapons in the hands of a vast Islamist empire with the missiles to deliver them anywhere in the world!” he warned.
During his address, Netanyahu turned directly to the Iranian people, greeted them in Farsi, and said Israel was not their enemy. He then went on to wish the people of Iran freedom from the “terrible regime that terrorizes” its own people, “hangs gays, jails journalists, tortures political prisoners and shoots innocent women” and hoped for the day that the “friendship between our two ancient peoples” can be restored.