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With much of the world calling on Israel to agree to cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon, a defiant Israeli prime minister is preparing to give his annual U.N. address. Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York today amid street protests and a lot of concerns about the expanding war in the Middle East. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Ever since the Hamas-led attack on Israel last October, the U.S. and the U.N. have been trying to prevent a broad regional war. But Netanyahu and his government say they are determined not just to fight Hamas in Gaza, but also push Hezbollah back from Israel's border with Lebanon.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Non-English language spoken).
KELEMEN: "My policy is clear," Netanyahu said, just after his plane landed in New York. "We will continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might. We will not stop until we achieve all our goals."
His ambassador at the U.N., Danny Danon, says Netanyahu will pick up on that theme in his U.N. General Assembly speech, arguing that Israel can no longer tolerate the Hezbollah rocket fire that has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis.
DANNY DANON: You know, people speak a lot about what's happening in Lebanon. They forget about the 70,000 Israelis who became refugees within their own country. I'm sure he will say that if we can reach our goals with diplomatic negotiations, we would be happy to do that. But unfortunately, for the last year, it didn't happen.
KELEMEN: Many world leaders have accused Israel of dragging its feet on cease-fire talks for Gaza that could have stopped Hezbollah from firing rockets, too, though Danon rejects those arguments.
Now, U.S. and French officials are looking for new ways to calm tensions, proposing a 21-day cease-fire in Lebanon. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says it's time to step back from the brink.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES: An all-out war must be avoided at all costs. It would surely be an all-out catastrophe.
KELEMEN: Today, the Secretary-General turned his attention once again to the war in Gaza, speaking at one of the many side events on that subject.
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GUTERRES: We have failed the people of Gaza. They are in a living hell that somehow gets even worse by the day.
KELEMEN: The U.N. General Assembly, meanwhile, heard from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
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MAHMOUD ABBAS: (Non-English language spoken).
KELEMEN: "We will not leave," Abbas repeated several times as he took to the podium, accusing Israel of war crimes and laying waste to much of the Gaza Strip. He spoke through an interpreter.
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ABBAS: (Through interpreter) Israel has reoccupied the Gaza Strip in its entirety, and it has destroyed it almost entirely, so that Gaza is no longer fit for life.
KELEMEN: Abbas says, under his plan, the Palestinian Authority would govern a post-war Gaza, though he's had no influence there since Hamas seized power in 2007. Israeli ambassador Danon says Abbas missed an opportunity to distance himself from Hamas.
DANON: You know, he spoke for almost half an hour, and he wasn't able to mention Hamas at all. And he ignored it, like they don't exist.
KELEMEN: Danon says many world leaders are also ignoring what he calls the real problem in the Middle East - Iran. He describes Iran as the, quote, "spider at the center of this web of violence," because of its support for Hezbollah, Hamas and other proxies in the region. It's an argument Netanyahu is likely to make when he takes the podium tomorrow.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the United Nations.
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