The prime minister said that the governments of the UN had a decision to make.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, right, meets with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Wednesday.
Photo: AP
"Would you accept this farce? Because if you do, the United Nations would revert to its darkest days, when the worst violators of human rights sat in judgement against the law-abiding democracies, when Zionism was equated with racism, and when an automatic majority could be mustered to declare that the earth is flat."
The prime minister said that "if the report is not rejected, the UN will go into a process of vitiating itself from relevance," adding that by accepting the report, "the world will be sending a message to terrorists that terrorism pays - you will win immunity if you launch your attacks from densely populated areas."
As Netanyahu continued to speak about Operation Cast Lead, the Palestinian delegate to the UN left the hall.
"What a travesty!" Netanyahu said of the Goldstone Report. "The biased and unjust report provided a clear-cut test to all governments - will you stand with Israel or with the terrorists? We must know the answer to that question now - not later. If Israel is asked to take more risks for peace, we must know today that you will stand with us tomorrow. We can take further risks for peace only if we have confidence that we can defend ourselves."
The prime minister stressed that "all of Israel wants peace," noting that Israel made peace with Egypt and Jordan, and vowing that "if the Palestinians truly want peace, we will make peace. But we want a defensible peace, permanent peace."
"We ask the Palestinians to say yes to a Jewish state, as simple, as clear, as elementary as that. We are not foreign conquerors in the Land of Israel. We are not strangers to this land - this is our homeland, but as deeply connected as we are to this place, we recognize that the Palestinians also live here and they want a home. We want to live side by side in peace, prosperity and dignity."
Netanyahu explained that Israel must also have security, and therefore - repeating what he said earlier this year at Bar-Ilan University - insisted that the Palestinian state be demilitarized.
"The Palestinian state must be effectively demilitarized because we don't want another Gaza, or south Lebanon, another Iranian-backed terror base near Jerusalem. We want peace, and I believe that with goodwill and hard work, such a peace can be achieved, but it requires from all of us to roll back the forces of terror backed by Iran that seek to eliminate Israel and overthrow world order," he said.
Concluding his speech with a quote from the book of Joshua, Netanyahu said, "Let us be strong and of good courage, let us confront this peril, secure our future, and God willing, forge an enduring peace for generations to come."
