Netanyahu Scolds UN With Dramatic Moment of Silence

1 Oct 2015

Thursday at the United Nations in New York City in the middle of a speech to the body’s general assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood silent for almost a minute to emphasizes the “utter silence” of “the response from nearly every one of the governments represented here” in the face of Iran’s threats to destroy Israel.

Netanyahu said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have long said that the greatest danger facing our world is the coupling of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. I am gravely concerned that the nuclear deal with Iran will prove to be the marriage certificate of that holy union. I know that well-intentioned people sincerely believe that this is the best way to block Iran’s path to the bomb, but one of history’s most important, yet least learned lessons is this, the best intentions don’t prevent the worst outcomes. The vast majority of Israelis believe that this nuclear deal with Iran is a very bad deal. What makes matters even worse is that we see a world celebrating this bad deal—rushing to embrace and do business with a regime openly committed to our destruction. Last week the major general of the Iran’s army proclaimed this, quote, ‘We will annihilate Israel for sure. We are glad that we are in the forefront of executing the supreme leader’s order to the destroy Israel,’ end quote. And as for the supreme leader, himself—a few days after the nuke nuclear deal was announced, he released his latest book. Here it is. It is a 400-page creed planning to destroy the state of Israel. Last month, Khomeini once again made the genocidal intentions clear before Iran’s top clerical body, the assembly of experts. He spoke about Israel—home to over 6 million Jews. He pledged, quote, ‘There will be no Israel in 25 years.’ end quote. Seventy years after the murder of 6 million Jews, Iran’s rulers promised to destroy my country, murder my people, and the response from this body, the response from nearly every one of the governments represented here has been absolutely nothing. Utter silence. Deafening silence.”

Netanyahu then stood silent for almost a minute.

He continued, “Perhaps you can understand why Israel is not joining you in celebrating this deal. If Iran’s rulers were working to destroy your countries, perhaps you’d be less enthusiastic the about the deal. If Iran’s terror proxies were firing thousands of rockets at your cities, perhaps you’d be more measured in your praise. If this deal were unleashing a nuclear arms race in your neighborhood, perhaps you’d be more reluctant to celebrate. But don’t think that Iran is only a danger to Israel. Besides Iran’s aggression in the Middle East and the terror around the world, Iran is also building intercontinental ballistic missiles whose sole purpose is to carry nuclear warheads. And now, remember this, Iran already has missiles that can reach Israel, and so the intercontinental missiles that the Iran is building, they are not meant for us, but they are meant for you, for Europe, for America, for raining down mass destruction, anytime, anywhere.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is not easy to oppose something that is embraced by the greatest powers in the world, believe me, it would be far easier to the remain silent. But throughout our history, the Jewish people have learned the heavy price of silence. And as the prime minister of the Jewish state—as someone who knows that history, I refuse to be silent. I’ll say it again—the days when the Jewish people remain passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. Not being passive, but it means speak up about those danger, and we have, we are, we will. Not being passive also means defending ourselves against those dangers. We have, we are, and we will. Israel not allow Iran to break in, sneak in or to walk into the nuclear weapons club. I know that preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons is Israel’s being determined to protect itself from those who seek our destruction. For in every generation, there were those who rose up to destroy our people. In antiquity we faced destruction from the ancient empires of Babylon and Rome, and in the Middle Ages we faced inquisition and expulsion, and in modern times we faced the Holocaust, and yet the Jewish people have persevered, and now another regime has surfaced swearing to destroy Israel. That the regime would be wise to consider this, I stand here today representing Israel, a country 67 years young, but the nation state of the people nearly 4,000 years old. Yet, the empires of Babylon and Rome are not represented in this hall of nations, and neither is the thousand year Reich, those seemingly invisible empires are long gone, but Israel lives. The people of Israel live.”