00:00We have a very exciting week ahead of us. Unfortunately, Mayor Mamdani is continuing
00:05to incite against Prime Minister Netanyahu, labeling him as a rogue criminal. It will not
00:11help him. The Prime Minister will come for a very quick visit. He will stay on the ground for a
00:16few
00:16hours, but he will speak in the General Assembly. He will address the United Nations. And I would
00:22advise Mayor Mamdani to focus on the problem in the city of New York and stop with promoting
00:27anti-Semitism, stop supporting Hamas and stop engaging with the Iranian regime. It's shameful
00:33that we're doing it at the mail, but it will not stop the Prime Minister from coming to the UN
00:39this week.
00:40I think he already incited, you know, by putting the ridiculous claim that he can or he should
00:48arrest the Prime Minister. If someone should be arrested, it's Mayor Mamdani for inciting,
00:53for actually collaborating with the enemy of the United States. You know, he sent his officials to
00:59meet with the Iranian ambassador here at the UN. And I hope that he will realize that he has
01:05responsibility not to call for people to demonstrate, but to take care of the city and to make sure that
01:11next week will be a quiet functioning week for the thousands of people that will come from all around
01:17the world to participate in the UN high-level week. I would like to begin by addressing yesterday's
01:25meaningful trilateral summit between Israel, the United States and Morocco. Israel reached significant
01:32agreements with Morocco to enhance diplomatic ties by establishing embassies in both countries,
01:39to facilitate economic cooperation and mutual investment, and to expand direct flights between our countries.
01:47The Jewish people have deep historical roots in Morocco. As our nations grow closer together,
01:54these achievements will benefit both countries. Israel is fully committed to expanding the Abraham Accords
02:02circle of peace. As you all know, high-level week is approaching quickly. Next week, Prime Minister Netanyahu
02:11will proudly address the General Assembly. He will do so despite the threats, the incitement and the
02:19anti-Semitic rhetoric we have heard from the mayor of the city of New York. You know, the mayor is
02:26supposed to
02:27make sure that we're going to have a quiet week with less traffic and issues, but he's doing exactly the
02:34opposite. He's inciting, calling for people to demonstrate against our Prime Minister. But none of that will stop us.
02:43Prime Minister Netanyahu will come here to speak about the challenges facing Israel, but also about the
02:50opportunities we have in the region. Today we are here to discuss the situation in Syria. Israel faces verified
02:58security threats from Syrian territory, ISIS, Hezbollah and the IRGC continue to operate and threaten Israel
03:07from within Syria. These radicals have contributed to the instability in the country. You can look at this
03:17map to protect our citizens from these threats. Israel maintains a very small buffer zone on the Golan Heights.
03:27It's a tiny one, representing 0.1% of Syrian territory. While we will hear today a lot of criticism
03:37about this buffer zone, look what is happening in the north of Syria. Turkey currently occupies 5%
03:49of Syrian territory. That is 50 times of our buffer zone. But when Israel takes limited action to protect
03:58our civilians from threats, this council is quick to condemn. But when Turkey maintains a much larger
04:07military footprint with 20,000 soldiers, more than 100 military posts, the council is quiet.
04:19That footprint included the plans of Turkey to take over a base, the Abu al-Dawar base, and develop
04:29capabilities to undermine our security. And we took action to neutralize that threat.
04:37Israel will not leave the security of Israeli civilians to chance. As long as Syria remains vulnerable to
04:44terrorist organizations, internal chaos, and foreign military entrenchment, Israel will take the necessary
04:51steps to protect itself. Our message to the Syrian government is clear. If you want to re-enter the
04:59international community, you must ensure that Syria is not used as a platform for terrorism or as a
05:07playground for foreign powers. They should look what happened to Lebanon and learn the lessons from
05:14Lebanon. Thank you very much.
05:18Ambassador, in terms of the mayor, and you mentioned the mayor, he's shifted ground a little bit,
05:26obviously since he backed off arresting your prime minister, but now he says he will not attend the
05:34rallies and he hasn't encouraged people to protest. Is that progress?
05:40Well, I think he already incited, you know, by putting the ridiculous claim that he can or he
05:48should arrest the prime minister. If someone should be arrested, it's Mayor Mamdani for inciting, for
05:55actually collaborating with the enemy of the United States. You know, he sent his officials to meet with
06:00the Iranian ambassador here at the U.N., and I hope that he will realize that he has responsibility,
06:07not to call for people to demonstrate, but to take care of the city and to make sure that next
06:12week
06:13will be a quiet, functioning week for the thousands of people that will come from all around the world
06:19to participate in the U.N. high-level week.
06:21And you also mentioned the Abraham Accords. There's been some talk that maybe there'll be another
06:27member announced during high-level week, Kuwait, the Kingdom. Do you have any sense of that may happen?
06:35I'm optimistic about that. I don't think it will happen during the high-level week, but I think now
06:40that when we mark, Pamela, six years for the Abraham Accords, I think many countries realize that they are
06:47strong, beneficial, and you can just take a look at the cooperation between Israel and UAE and Bahrain.
06:53You know, we work together and we support our interests. Thank you.
07:01Mr. Ambassador, Islamdor from Anadolu Agency. How do you explain the difference between
07:09that the Syrian government doesn't complain about the Turkish presence on the north, but
07:15calls Israel as an occupier in the south? So according to your map and statement, how do you explain this
07:22difference?
07:23I have no explanation. I will ask the Syrian ambassador today to clarify that. You know,
07:28he stood here last week condemning Israel for this buffer zone, but I never heard him speaking
07:35about Turkey. And I will expect him to answer my questions today in the meeting in the Security Council.
07:41If I may ask one more question. You often raise the concern that there's anti-Semitism.
07:49Where do you draw the line between anti-Semitism and legitimate Israeli policy criticism? Because
07:57there's some accusation that Israeli policy makers usually use as a shield anti-Semitism
08:06to those who criticize Israeli policies. So first of all, I agree with you. It is legitimate to criticize
08:12Israel. We are a democracy. We can handle criticism. But you see the difference when you use different
08:20standards. When UN officials use double standards, there is one way to treat Israel and another policy
08:30when you treat other areas around the world. That's when it's becoming problematic. And unfortunately,
08:35we see it a lot in the UN, that you see the obsession and the double standards against Israel.
08:42Master, on the national, would you know when the bilateral
08:47funders are in the . So that's a very sensitive issue for me,
08:53because I'm working on that in the last few hours. It's very complicated, because we have high holidays
08:59now. So the Prime Minister will come for a very short visit. Maybe we'll stay one night
09:04night, maybe even not. It will be a very short visit of the Prime Minister. It was very important
09:09for him to come to speak in the General Assembly. So we will have few bilateral, but not too many,
09:14because of the time concerns. Thank you. Thank you very much.
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