Visits to Israel earlier this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump were “two… truly historic” ones for his country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, mentioning both in the same breath in his address to the UN General Assembly.
“In July, Prime Minister Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. You may have seen the pictures. We were on a beach in Hadera. We rode together in a jeep outfitted with a portable desalination device that some thriving Israeli entrepreneur invented. We took off our shoes, waded into the Mediterranean and drank seawater that had been purified only a few minutes earlier. We imagined the endless possibilities for Israel, India, for all humanity,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
The Israeli Prime Minister said Mr. Trump’s decision to include Israel in his first visit abroad in May was equally historic. “President Trump stood at the Western Wall, at the foot of the Temple Mount, where the Jewish people’s Temples stood for nearly a thousand years. When the President touched those ancient stones, he touched our hearts forever,” he said.
“UN epicenter of anti-Semitism”
Taking potshots at the United Nations and its affiliated bodies for allegedly biased views on Israel, the PM asked: “So is there no limit to the UN’s absurdities when it comes to Israel?,” adding that the world body has been for years the “epicenter of anti-Semitism.” But with Israel’s improving ties with many member nations, U.N is beginning to change, he has said. He said Mr. Trump speech earlier in the day was a clear message in support of Israel.
“President Trump rightly called the nuclear deal with Iran, he called it an embarrassment. Well, I couldn’t agree with him more,” Mr. Netanyahu said, alleging that Iran was following North Korea’s path to nuclear weaponisation.