The UN General Assembly convened on Thursday, marking the 71st anniversary of the historic vote on November 29, 1947, to discuss a series of resolutions against Israel as part of a Palestinian initiative.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, addressed the Palestinian delegation in the hall, and presented three conditions that would enable a future for the Palestinian people to be built.
At the opening, Danon emphasized the process that Israel and the Palestinians have undergone since November 29: "Seventy years have passed since the UN vote and the Palestinians are still in the same place, wasting decades spreading hate and financing terror, and choosing to remain in the past. Israel knows how to transform nothing into something miraculous, into a country in which freedom makes it possible to develop great ideas that spread across the world."
The ambassador turned to the Palestinians and set out three conditions that would lead to a new era in the region: "Recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people; stop the terrorist payments and incitements; and choose a leadership that is committed to the Palestinian people. Only when these conditions materialize can we continue forward in the region."
"If the international community does not condemn Hamas, it will actually encourage the terrorist organization responsible for the kidnapping of the bodies of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin," he said.
At the end of his speech, the Ambassador expressed Israel's commitment to prospering while cooperating with our neighbors. On the General Assembly stage, Danon donned a kippah (skullcap) and blessed the people of Israel with a chapter from Psalms.