Netanyahu: Iran poses greater threat than Islamic State

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday tried to shift the spotlight away from the Islamic State militant group and back to Iran, warning the United Nations that a nuclear-armed Tehran would pose a far greater threat than “militant Islamists on pickup trucks.” The Prime Minister described Iran, Islamic State and the militant group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip as part of a single team, comparing them all to Germany’s Nazis, who killed six million Jews in World War Two. He also slammed world leaders for condemning Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza, saying Hamas and IS were “branches of the same poisonous tree”.

The question before us is whether militant Islam will have the power to realize its unbridled ambitions. There is one place where that could soon happen – the Islamic State of Iran.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

He twice referred to the “Islamic State of Iran,” which would appear to be a deliberate play on the country’s official name - the Islamic Republic of Iran - and Islamic State. Netanyahu referred mockingly to Rouhani’s speech to the assembly last week, in which he accused the West and its allies of nurturing the group. The Palestine Liberation Organisation said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blatantly manipulated the facts when he compared Hamas with the Islamic State group in a UN speech on Monda

Obviously Netanyahu has lost touch with reality, particularly in refusing to acknowledge the fact of the occupation itself or the actions of the Israeli army of occupation in committing massacres and war crimes.

Hanan Ashrawi, Palestine Liberation Organisation executive member

Middle East Netanyahu