In his first speech at the United Nations since the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to paint Iran as the main source of the conflict in the Middle East and displayed two maps, showing a group of countries as “The Curse” and another group as “The Blessing”. Interestingly, both the maps showed Palestinian territories – the West Bank and Gaza — as part of Israel.
The map on Netanyahu’s right hand showed Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen painted in black, terming them as “The Curse”. In his left hand, the map showed Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and India painted in green. These countries were termed “The Blessing”. The Golan Heights region in Syria was also shown as being part of Israel.
The move by Netanyahu, who has a history of using props at the United Nations General Assembly, was being seen as Israel’s bid to emphasise its growing relations with neighbouring Arab countries.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first world leaders to condemn Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. However, India has also called for a complete ceasefire and has put its weight behind the “two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Holding the maps, Netanyahu said the world must choose between a “blessing” and a “curse” as the Middle East crisis intensified with Israel carrying out heavy bombardments on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.
Netanyahu’s Warning to Iran
In a fiery speech, Netanyahu trained his guns on Iran, which has a history of arming regional militias, and urged the world to end appeasing the nation. “I have a message for Tehran, if you strike us, we will strike you,” Netanyahu said.
“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East,” he further said.
The threat of an open conflict between Israel and its bitter adversary Iran has been mounting since the assassination of Hamas’s political wing chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital in July. In April, Iran directly attacked Israel for the first time following an attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria.
Netanyahu also had a warning for Palestine as he portrayed Israel as a peace-seeking nation. “Palestinians must stop spewing Jew-hatred and finally reconcile themselves to the Jewish state,” he said.