Opposition MKs slam Netanyahu’s ‘hypocritical’ UNGA speech

Knesset members from Israeli opposition parties criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech Thursday at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, calling it hypocritical and an attempt at lip service.

MK Jamal Zahalka of Joint (Arab) List said Netanyahu’s remarks at the UN — in which he called for PA President Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace talks and address the Knesset — were “hypocrisy” aimed at stalling any peace efforts.

“Netanyahu’s UN speech is a new low of hypocrisy and excuses to prevent a just peace,” he said. “He talked about children, democracy and peace, and stood on the stage at the United Nations while 500 children for whose deaths he is responsible in Operation Protective Edge are buried under the ground. Netanyahu’s remarks are a recipe for further bloodshed and prove to what extent Netanyahu is dangerous and an enemy of peace.”

Zahalka’s party member Ahmed Tibi called Netanyahu a “wasted theater actor” who “as always, knows how to talk” but whose words do not resonate with others.

“The international community understand this well,” said Tibi in a statement,” adding that “there is no serious leader who believes a word he says.

“Netanyahu’s refined accent [in English] cannot hide the fact that he is the leader of a country that has perpetrated the longest occupation in modern history,” said Tibi.

Echoing Tibi’s remarks, MK Ksenia Svetlova from the Zionist Union party said that the “best show in town tonight was not on Broadway, but at the UN.”

“The world is tired of listening [to him] and is mainly tired of believing him,” she said.

Zionist Union MK Hilik Bar, by contrast, congratulated Netanyahu on his UN remarks, saying in a statement that he welcomed the prime minister’s reiterated commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict.

Bar said it was Netanyahu’s chance “to prove to the Israeli people, and to the world” that he means what he says.

Meretz leader Zehava Galon dismissed Netanyahu’s invitation for Abbas to address the Knesset as “lip service and empty talk.”

“No one is buying this invitation to the Knesset for Abbas,” she said. “If Netanyahu wants a [final status] agreement he can take steps to advance it.

“Netanyahu has rhetoric that sounds wonderful in English, but on the ground he is whitewashing illegal outposts. His words were not meant for Abbas’s ears, but Obama’s ears,” she added.

Palestinian officials rejected Netanyahu’s call.

Abbas’s speech earlier Thursday also generated widespread criticism, with Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon saying his claim on “Israeli aggression against our Muslim and Christian holy sites” was tantamount to “a ticking time bomb.”

“Abbas chose to use the UN pulpit to represent Palestinian terror,” Danon said in a statement sent to the media shortly after the Palestinian leader spoke. “His dangerous words are sure to lead to even more terror attacks against Israel. The Palestinian youth listening to his speech today will be the terrorists of tomorrow.”

Danon also drew a direct connection between Abbas’s “hateful” comments and a rise in attacks against Israelis in recent weeks.

“Abbas’s words are like a ticking time bomb,” he said.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan also took Abbas to task, accusing the Palestinian leader and his government of trying to “reignite tensions ahead of the Jewish High Holidays” next month.