New York
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Friday (September 22), while addressing the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, held up a map of 'The New Middle East' without Palestine.
'The New Middle East' illustration showed the West Bank and Gaza within the boundaries of Israel.
He displayed two maps during his speech, one depicted Israel's geography in 1948, accentuating its seclusion in the Middle East without the allies.
The second illustration included countries that have peace agreements with Israel, which included Egypt, Sudan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Jordan.
In his speech, he underlined the significance of bolstering ties with Arab countries, with a special emphasis on Saudi Arabia.
After his address, he took to social media platform X and wrote, “The greatest achievement in my life is to fight for you (the Israeli people) and for our country. Shabbat Shalom.”
הזכות הגדולה של חיי היא להיאבק למענכם, למען המדינה שלנו. שבת שלום.
(צילום: אבי אוחיון, לע״מ) pic.twitter.com/O8qmKIIeUv
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 22, 2023
As per the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu used the map to show a new era of peace in the Middle East that would include Palestine, however, his staunch critics say that the illustration conveyed the opposite of what was intended.
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Americans for Peace Now CEO Hadar Susskind posted on X, “Netanyahu is returning to his government of fascists, felons, and fundamentalists, which in both action and words contradict his bogus rhetoric of peace.”
“His map of Greater Israel is perhaps the only honest part of his speech today,” Susskind wrote in a post.
Netanyahu under fire on social media
The Israeli prime minister was widely denounced on social media for holding up the specific illustration.
The Palestinian Authority’s representative to Germany Laith Arafeh shared a post on X saying, “No greater insult to every foundational principle of the UN than seeing Netanyahu display before the UNGA a “map of Israel” that straddles the entire land from the river to the sea.”
No greater insult to every foundational principle of the United Nations than seeing Netanyahu display before the UNGA a “map of Israel” that straddles the entire land from the river to the sea, negating Palestine and its people, then attempting to spin the audience with rhetoric… pic.twitter.com/nJUGgaNpDD
— Laith Arafeh ?? (@ArafehLaith) September 22, 2023
“Palestine and its people” while “attempting to spin the audience with rhetoric about “peace” in the region, all the while entrenching the longest ongoing belligerent occupation in today’s world,” he said.
“But as H.E. President Mahmoud Abbas already responded yesterday: “Delusional are those who think peace in the region is possible without the realisation of the full legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” he further added.
Netanyahu, on Friday (September 22), told the United Nations that his country was on the "cusp" of normalising ties with Saudi Arabia.
(With inputs from agencies)
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