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Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called Israel a “vibrant democracy” and said “peace is not a compromise, it is the most courageous decision we can make” in his first address to the United Nations General Assembly last week. Lapid denounced media disinformation and warned that Iran will use a nuclear weapon if it is allowed to build one.
Mr Lapid used his address to celebrate Israel’s historic growth and prosperity as the ‘Start-Up Nation’ and breakthroughs made in technology, medicine, agriculture, water and renewable energy. Lapid said Israel was able to achieve this because “we decided not to be a victim” and instead “focus on the hope of the future”.
He attacked the campaign of misinformation against Israel stating that “our democracies are slowly being poisoned by lies and fake news”. He gave the example of the picture of Malak al-Tanani, which the caption in the media falsely said was a young Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli Airforce. In fact, the Palestinian girl did not exist and it has been identified as a Russian girl on Instagram.
Lapid turned his speech to Iran, stating: “For more than forty years now, in town squares and on the streets of Iran, demonstrators have been photographed burning Israeli and American flags. Ask yourselves: Where are the flags coming from? The answer is: They are manufacturing them so they can burn them. This is what an industry of hate looks like”.
Regarding Iran’s aggression in the region, he added: “The country that wants to destroy us, is also the country that founded the largest terror terrorist organisation in the world, Hezbollah. Iran funds Hamas and Islamic Jihad and is behind mass terrorist attacks from Bulgaria to Buenos Aires. It is a murderous dictatorship that is making every effort to get a nuclear weapon… The only way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is to put a credible military threat on the table”.
Mr Lapid reiterated his support for the two-state solution saying: “An agreement with the Palestinians, based on two states for two peoples, is the right thing for Israel’s security and for the future of our children… Despite all the obstacles, still today a large majority of Israelis support the vision of this two-state solution. I am one of them. We have only one condition that a future Palestinian state will be peaceful”.
He spoke of the need to build upon the success of the Abraham Accords, stating: “We call upon every Muslim country – from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia… Our hand is outstretched for peace… We proved our desire for peace through the Abraham Accords, the Negev Summit, and the agreements we have signed with the Arab world”.
