Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu devoted the bulk of his 2015 speech at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York to warning of the risks inherent in the nuclear agreement signed three months earlier between Iran and six world powers.
The speech was firm, its messages sharp. Netanyahu was eloquent as always, but his threats surrounding the nuclear agreement with Iran sounded more than a little anachronistic. After all, that train had already left the station. Besides, US President Barack Obama wasn't very concerned about what the Israeli prime minister thought about the agreement, having such a tense relationship with him. At the end of his speech, Netanyahu attacked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well, but then announced that he was prepared to renew negotiations with the Palestinians.
Two years later, on Sept. 19, Netanyahu was back at the same podium. Most of his speech was devoted to how Israel is thriving economically, politically and scientifically under his leadership. In keeping with his longstanding tradition, he veered off to the threat posed by the nuclear agreement with Iran. Netanyahu said that the signatories should either "fix it or nix it," adding, "Today, I have a simple message for Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei, the dictator of Iran: The light of Israel will never be extinguished. Those who threaten us with annihilation put themselves in mortal peril. Israel will defend itself with the full force of our arms and the full power of our convictions."
Unlike in 2015, this time Netanyahu's remarks sounded more relevant. He delivered his speech to the General Assembly just a few hours after President Donald Trump's own bellicose address, in which he renounced the agreement with Iran, a major component of Obama's legacy. Trump sounded like he was reading Netanyahu's talking points when he described the nuclear agreement as "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into." He then threatened to withdraw from the agreement and sent a serious warning to North Korea as well. He made no mention of his commitment to renewing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians — or the Palestinian issue at all, for that matter.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
