| «Now, in countless meetings with world leaders, I made the case that Israel and the Arab states shared many common interests, and that I believed that these many common interests could facilitate a breakthrough for a broader peace in our region ... I believe that we are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough – an historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Such a peace will go a long way to ending the Arab Israeli conflict ...» (P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu at UNGA, Sept.22) |
>>>Read the full text of Netanyahu's 2023 UN speech<<<
Facing Empty Seats and Massive Protests, Netanyahu Promises Imminent Saudi Peace
- The speech by Israel's prime minister focused on the threat of Iran and a potential Saudi-Israel normalization agreement.
United Nations, Sept.22.– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu stood on Friday morning in front of an empty hall at the UN headquarters to deliver his annual General Assembly speech.
Most world leaders and foreign ministers had left the city by then, and the silence was interrupted only by the clapping of a small group of loyalists – government minister, advisers, aides, and supporters – who provided a soundtrack of applause for Israelis watching the speech at home.
At the same time, more than 2,000 people were protesting against Netanyahu outside the building over his government’s attempt to weaken the Israeli judiciary. It was a small demonstration compared to the weekly protests in Israel since January. Still, it was unprecedented for a crowd this size to gather in another country and protest against an Israeli prime minister.
Demonstrators waved Israeli flags and sang the national anthem. Among the speakers were Prof. Daniel Kahneman, an Israeli-American Nobel Prize winner, and Rabbi Eliott Cosgrove, a prominent Conservative rabbi based in New York ...
[ Full text ]