PM: UN can't force Israel to compromise on security

Netanyahu: Unilateral move will only distance PA from statehood.

By HERB KEINON, JPOST.COM STAFF
Netanyahu's speaks about Palestinian UN bid 370 (photo credit: Screenshot)
Netanyahu's speaks about Palestinian UN bid 370
(photo credit: Screenshot)
With Israel facing a stinging diplomatic defeat Thursday at the UN, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that regardless of how many vote against Israel, "no force in the world will get me to compromise on Israel's security."
He also said no force in the world can sever the thousands-year-old tie between the Jewish people and the land of Israel.
Relating to the expected overwhelming support of the world to upgrade the Palestinian status at the UN to that of a non-member state, Netanyahu said that the decision will "Not change anything on the ground. It will not further the establishment of a Palestinian state, but will make it more distant."
Netanyahu's comments came while touring an exhibit of recently declassified documents marking the upcoming 35th anniversary of Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.
"Israel's hand is always extended in peace, but a Palestinian state will not be established without recognition of the state of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, without an end-of-conflict declaration, and without true security arrangements that will protect Israel and its citizens." Netanyahu, who said that none of the conditions he reiterated are even mentioned in the Palestinian's UN resolution, said that peace is only achieved through negotiations, and not by unilateral declarations "which do not take into consideration Israel security needs."
Netanyahu recommended not being impressed by the applause that will likely be heard later at the UN.
"I remember the international community's applause that the government of Israel received when it decided to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza," he said. "We got applause and then rocket fire. We left Gaza, and Iran entered, exactly like what happened in Lebanon."
Netanyahu said he would not enable another Iranian base to be established, this time in Judea and Samaria, a kilometer away from Jerusalem.
"It does not matter how many will vote against us, there is no force in the world that will cause me to compromise on Israeli security and there is no force in the world able to sever the thousands year connection between the people of Israel and the Land of Israel," he said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he was unafraid of Israeli reactions to his unilateral statehood bid at the United Nations, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported.
"If the Israeli authorities want to threaten my life, they can," Abbas told reporters. "The whole world realizes that the Palestinian Authority, with all its political and security services, and administrative bodies, has been ready to upgrade its status for six years."
Prosor to Abbas: Forego UN 'march of folly'
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor made a last-ditch appeal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to forego his "destructive march of folly at the UN" and instead "forge constructive solutions at the negotiating table" with Israel, in an oped published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.
Prosor urged the international community to consider the consequences before rubber-stamping Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bid to upgrade the PA's status to non-member state, arguing the initiative was premature for four reasons:
First, the territories over which the Palestinians seek to declare sovereignty are divided between warring factions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Prosor noted, evidenced by the fact that Abbas has not stepped foot in the coastal enclave since his party was ousted by Hamas in a civil war in 2007;
Second, states recognized by the UN must pledge to be "peace-loving;" however, Prosor pointed out that Gaza is ruled by the Hamas terrorist organization, which earlier this month fired more than 1,200 rockets into Israeli civilian centers.
In Prosor's words, "The family of nations does not need another member whose primary import is deadly weapons and whose chief exports are extremism, hatred and terror."
Third, neither Gaza nor the West Bank are democratic in nature, Prosor contended. Hamas, he highlighted, "has imposed brutal tyranny in Gaza," whereas "President Abbas's mandate to rule expired three years ago."
Fourth, the Palestinian economy is non-viable, according to Prosor, completely dependent on foreign aid. Despite this, Prosor wrote, "this year, as the PA threatened to delay payroll for many employees, it tripled payments to convicted terrorists. Today the PA devotes 6% of its annual budget to payments for imprisoned terrorists and the families of suicide bombers, and less than 1% to higher education."
Prosor concluded by reiterating that "The foundations for real Palestinian statehood and real peace can only be laid through hard work on the ground and direct talks with Israel.
"When the foundations for lasting peace are in place, Israel will not be the last nation to welcome Palestinians to the UN. We will be the first."