Netanyahu: UN not "moral force" but moral farce"

"Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, what I'm about to say is going to shock you. Israel has a bright future at the UN.

Now, I know that hearing that from me must surely come as a surprise, because year after year I have stood at this very podium and slammed the UN for its obsessive bias against Israel. And the UN deserved every scathing word for the disgrace of the General Assembly that last year passed 20 resolutions against the democratic State of Israel and a grand total of three resolutions against all the other countries on the planet. Israel: 20; rest of the world: 3.

And what about the joke called the UN Human Rights Council which each year condemns Israel more than all the countries of the world combined? As women are being systematically raped, murdered, sold into slavery across the world, which is the only country that the UN's Commission on Women chose to condemn this year? Yep. You guessed it: Israel. Israel. Israel, where women fly fighter jets, lead major corporations, head universities, preside twice over the Supreme Court and have served as Speaker of the Knesset and Prime Minister.

And this circus continues at UNESCO. UNESCO, the UN body charged with preserving world heritage. Now, this is hard to believe, but UNESCO just denied the 4,000-year connection between the Jewish people and its holiest site, the Temple Mount. That's just as absurd as denying the connection between the Great Wall of China and China.

Ladies and gentlemen, the UN, begun as a moral force, has become a moral farce. So when it comes to Israel at the UN, you probably think nothing will ever change, right? Well, think again. You see, everything will change, and a lot sooner than you think. The change will happen in this hall, because back home your governments are rapidly changing their attitudes towards Israel. And sooner or later, that's going to change the way you vote on Israel at the UN.

More and more nations in Asia, in Africa, and Latin America, more and more nations see Israel as a potent partner, a partner in fighting the terrorism of today, a partner in developing the technology of tomorrow. Today, Israel has diplomatic relations with over 160 countries. That's nearly double the number that we had when I served here as Israel's ambassador some 30 years ago. And those ties are getting broader and deeper every day...

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates from so many lands, I have one message for you today: lay down your arms. The war against Israel at the UN is over. Perhaps some of you don't know it yet, but I'm confident that one day in the not too distant future, you will also get the message from your president or from your prime minister informing you that the war against Israel at the United Nations has ended. Yes, I know there might be a storm before the calm. I know there's talk about ganging up on Israel at the UN later this year. Given its history of hostility towards the UN-or towards Israel, rather-does anyone really believe that Israel will let the UN determine our security and our vital national interests? We will not accept any attempt by the UN to dictate terms to Israel. The road to peace runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not through New York. But regardless of what happens in the months ahead, I have total confidence that in the years ahead, the revolution in Israel's standing among the nations will finally penetrate this hall of nations. I have so much confidence, in fact, that I predict that a decade from now, an Israeli prime minister will stand right here where I'm standing and actually applaud the UN. But I want to ask you, why do we have to wait a decade? Why keep vilifying Israel? Perhaps because some of you don't appreciate that the obsessive bias against Israel is not just a problem for my country, it's a problem for your countries, too, because if the UN spends so much time condemning the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, it has far less time to address war, disease, poverty, climate change, and all of the other serious problems that plague the planet.

Are the half million slaughtered Syrians helped by your condemnation of Israel? The same Israel that has treated thousands of injured Syrians in our hospitals, including a field hospital that I built right along the Golan Heights border with Syria? Are the gays hanging from cranes in Iran helped by your denigration of Israel, that same Israel where gays march proudly in our streets and serve in our parliament, including, I'm proud to say, in my own Likud party? Are the starving children in North Korea's brutal tyranny, are they helped by your demonization of Israel? Israel, whose agricultural know-how is feeding the hungry throughout the developing world? The sooner the UN's obsession with Israel ends, the better: the better for Israel, the better for your countries, the better for the UN itself..."