The Israeli prime minister shared hopes of ‘lasting partnerships’ in Middle East against ‘common dangers’ and aired frustrations over Iran deal in UN speech

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has claimed that shifting alliances in the Middle East are drawing Arab countries closer to the Jewish state in confronting the common enemies of Iran and Islamic State.

In a lengthy speech to the UN general assembly, punctuated by long pauses in which he glared at delegates after denouncing them as “obsessively hostile” to Israel, Netanyahu said he hoped the shared threat posed by Tehran and Islamic State would remake the politics of the region.

“Common dangers are clearly bringing Israel and its Arab neighbours closer and as we work together to thwart those dangers, I hope we’ll build lasting partnerships,” he said.

But Netanyahu spent much of his speech re-fighting the lost battle over the US-led nuclear deal with Iran.

He attempted to tie the agreement, which sees the lifting of sanctions in return for Iran committing to peaceful use of nuclear power and UN monitoring, to the west’s conflict with Isis by saying that easing the embargo on Tehran will only lead to more terrorism.

“Many in our region know that both Iran and Isis are our common enemies and when your enemies are fighting one another, don’t strengthen either one, weaken both,” he said.

He accused Iran of setting up new terror cells in cities around the world.

“This deal doesn’t make peace more likely. By fuelling Iran’s aggressions with billions of dollars in sanctions relief, it makes war likely,” Netanyahu said.

“Unleashed and unmuzzled, Iran will go on the prowl, devouring more and more prey ... You think hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief and fat contracts will turn this rapacious tiger into a kitten?”

Netanyahu said Israel will not allow Iran “to break in, to sneak in, or to walk into the nuclear weapons club”.

“Make sure Iran’s violations are not swept under the Persian rug. One thing I can assure you: Israel will be watching closely,” he said.

The Israeli prime minister painted much the same apocalyptic vision to the US Congress this year and in earlier addresses to the UN.

But with the Iran agreement sealed, his lengthy denunciation came across more as venting frustration than a serous shot at changing minds.

“It’s not easy to oppose something that is embraced by the greatest powers in the world,” he acknowledged. But he added: “I refuse to be silent.”

After his lengthy criticism of President Obama’s signature foreign policy achievement, Netanyahu sought to smooth the waters with the Americans.

“Our differences about the nuclear deal are a disagreement within the family,” he said. But the US delegation sat silently during applause, most of which came from Netanyahu’s supporters who packed the gallery and clapped with unusual vigour.

The Israeli prime minister only got around to speaking about the Palestinians more than half an hour into his speech.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, said Palestinians are no longer bound by the two decades old Oslo peace accords because Israel is not serious about the creation of an independent state out of the occupied territories.

Abbas accused Netanyahu of imposing a form of apartheid on the West Bank and appealed for the UN to provide protection for the Palestinians.

Netanyahu said, as he has in the past, that he is “prepared to immediately resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians without any preconditions whatsoever”, and he made a direct appeal to Abbas.

“President Abbas, I know it’s not easy, I know it’s hard, but we owe it to our people to try, to continue to try,” he said.

The Palestinians say that Netanyahu’s assertion that peace talks should be “unconditional” is so that Israel can continue to expand settlements in the West Bank and effectively annex land under the cover of talks. The Palestinians want an immediate halt to settlement growth and early agreement about the borders of a state.