I went to Australia, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to visit our great allies down under, and just last week, I went to South America, visiting Argentina and Colombia, and then I went on to Mexico, becoming, if you can believe it, the first Israeli prime minister ever to visit Latin America. After 70 years, the world is embracing Israel, and Israel is embracing the world.
Now, it's true: I haven't yet visited Antarctica, but one day, I hope to go there. I want to go there, too, because I heard that penguins are also enthusiastic supporters of Israel.
Now, you laugh, but penguins have no difficulty recognizing that some things are black and white, are right and wrong, and unfortunately, when it comes to UN decisions about Israel, that simple recognition is too often absent. It was absent last December when the Security Council passed an anti-Israel resolution that set back the cause of peace.
It was absent last May when the World Health Organization adopted - you have to listen to this - the World Health Organization adopted a Syrian-sponsored resolution that criticized Israel for health conditions on the Golan Heights.
As the great John McEnroe would say, you cannot be serious. I mean, this is preposterous. Syria has barrel-bombed, starved, gassed and murdered hundreds of thousands of its own citizens and wounded millions more, while Israel has provided life-saving medical care to thousands of Syrian victims of that very same carnage. Yet who does the World Health Organization? So is there no limit to the UN's absurdities when it comes to Israe l? Well, apparently not. That's worse than fake news; that's fake history.
Mind you, it's true that Abraham, the father of both Ishmael and Isaac, is buried there, but so, too, are Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca - Sarah's a Jewish name, by the way - Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, who just happened to be patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people. Well, you won't read about that in the latest UNESCO report, but if you want to, you can read about it in a somewhat weightier publication.
It's called "the Bible. I hear it even got four and a half out of five stars on Amazon. And it's a great read.
I read it every week. Ladies and gentlemen, a moment to be serious. Despite the absurdities, despite the repetition of these farcical events, there is change, slowly but surely. There are signs of positive change, even at the United Nations. Secretary-General, I very much appreciate your statement that denying Israel's right to exist is anti-Semitism, pure and simple.
Now that's important because for too long, the epicenter of global anti-Semitism has been right here at the UN, and while it may take many years, I'm absolutely confident that the revolution in Israel's ties with individual nations will ultimately be reflected here in this hall of nations.
I say that because there's also a marked change in the positions of some of our key friends. Thanks to President Trump's unequivocal support for Israel in this body, that positive change is gathering force. So thank you, President Trump. Thank you for speaking the truth about Israel. But ladies and gentlemen, here at the UN, we must also speak the truth about Iran, as President Trump did so powerfully this morning.
Now, as you know, I've been ambassador to the UN, and I'm a long-serving Israeli prime minister, so I've listened to countless speeches in this hall, but I can say this: None were bolder, none were more courageous and forthright than the one delivered by President Trump today.
President Trump rightly called the nuclear deal with Iran - he called it "an embarrassment. And here's why: Iran vows to destroy my country. Every day, including by its chief of staff the other day. Iran is conducting a campaign of conquest across the Middle East, and Iran is developing ballistic missiles to threaten the entire world. Two years ago, I stood here and explained why the Iranian nuclear deal not only doesn't block Iran's path to the bomb, but actually paves it.
Because the restrictions placed on Iran's nuclear program have what's called "a sunset clause. It means that in a few years, those restrictions will be automatically removed, not by a change in Iran's behavior, not by a lessening of its terror or its aggression: they'll just be removed by a mere change in the calendar.
And I warned that when that sunset comes, a dark shadow will be cast over the entire Middle East and the world because Iran will then be free to enrich uranium on an industrial scale, placing it on the threshold of a massive arsenal of nuclear weapons. That's why I said two years ago that the greater danger is not that Iran will rush to a single bomb by breaking the deal, but that Iran will be able to build many bombs by keeping the deal.
Now, in the last few months, we've all seen how dangerous even a few nuclear weapons can be in the hands of a small rogue regime. Now imagine the danger of hundreds of nuclear weapons in the hands of a vast Iranian-Islamist empire with the missiles to deliver them anywhere on earth.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu showed an aerial photograph of the Iranian capital marked with a red arrow and pointed to what he said was a previously secret warehouse holding nuclear-related material. He argued this showed Iran still sought to obtain nuclear weapons, despite its agreement with world powers to curb its program in exchange for loosening of sanctions.
Netanyahu said the site contained some 15 kg 33 pounds of radioactive material that has since been moved, and he called on the U.
Netanyahu did not identify the material nor specifically suggest that Iran had actively violated the nuclear deal. He said Israeli agents removed vast amounts of documents from that site. Israel and states across the Arab world not only stand together in advancing peace. We stand together in confronting the greatest enemy of peace in the Middle East—Iran.
We all saw the terrible explosion at Beirut port last month. The explosion happened here. This is the Beirut port. Two hundred people died, thousands of people were injured, and a quarter of a million people were made homeless.
Now, here is where the next explosion could take place. Right here. This is the Beirut neighborhood of Janah. And here, Hezbollah is keeping a secret arms depot. This secret arms depot, right here, is adjacent, a meter away, from a gas company. These are gas canisters. Here are more gas trucks. For the Janah neighborhood residents this is the actual coordinates.
This is the gas company, and this is the missile explosive depot. And what you should make clear is that what they have done is unacceptable. You should tell them, tear these depots down. And that is why the international community must insist that Hezbollah stop using Lebanon and Lebanese civilians as human shields.
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