Thank you, Mr. President.
On behalf of Israel, I congratulate the incoming members of the Security Council. I hope that this year, the Council will engage in factual and constructive dialogue regarding the situation in the Middle East.
I also congratulate the delegation of the Dominican Republic for your presidency of the Council this month.
Two days ago, the Iranian regime committed a grave act of aggression against Israel. The Iranian Quds Force fired a medium range surface-to-surface missile into northern Israel from a position in close proximity to the Israeli border.
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepted this missile successfully. Israel responded by targeting Iranian military infrastructure in Syria, including intelligence command and control centers; weapons warehouses; and training facilities.
Israel holds the Syrian regime responsible for the missile that was launched against Israel from Syrian territory.
The international community and the Security Council must condemn Iran for this act of
aggression. The firing of this missile proves, once again, Iran’s deep entrenchment in Syria.
Let me be clear: Iran must, with no conditions, fully withdraw its military presence and militia
forces from Syria. It must do so immediately.
Israel does not wish for any escalation, but Israel is ready and able to protect its citizens and its sovereignty from the Iranian threat.
Anyone that threatens to wipe Israel off the map will be held fully accountable.
Mr. President,
When it comes to countering terrorism, you must follow the money.
When the world united against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and ISIL, we asked two fundamental
questions: where do they get their money, and how do we cut off their supply?
By asking the right questions, by following the money trail, the world was able to diminish the threat of terror.
Mr. President,
When it comes to countering terrorism in the Middle East today, the international community
must apply the same strategy.
It must follow the money.
In our region, the money trail of terror leads back to one common supplier. The world must
acknowledge that supplier – the source that is the epicenter of modern terrorism. It must face the harsh reality that this source is a UN member state.
This member state is proliferating a plague of terror, from which no one is immune.
Fortunately, in recent months, we have seen nations, and unions of states, from the Middle East to Europe and beyond, beginning to take steps toward finding a remedy.
But a remedy is not enough.
We need to take preventative action.
It is high time that the world put a stop to the source – the main supplier – the sponsor of
terrorism: Iran.
Mr. President,
After the signing of the JCPOA, the international community was optimistic.
It thought Iran would use the billions of dollars it received to invest in its people, maybe
infrastructure; reform its economy; and rejoin the community of nations.
That was wishful thinking.
Iran has used the money to finance terrorism across the region and around the globe.
The Iranian payroll emboldens the worst of terrorists. The money trail starts in Tehran. It reaches the border with Iraq. It stretches across the Arab Gulf to Yemen. It extends to the tyrants in Damascus. It lands in the bank accounts of its proxy – Hezbollah.
Iran is bankrolling a “coalition of terrorists” around the world. Its ultimate goal is to preach and export Ayatollah Khomeini’s radical doctrine and further the Iranian policy of expansionism.
With the Iranian regime’s complete backing, Hezbollah – the Iranian proxy – is turning Lebanon into a launching pad for terror.
If you do not believe me, believe Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, who stated proudly that all of Hezbollah’s funding, weaponry, and even food supply comes from Iran.
On December 19, I presented, right here, undeniable evidence that Hezbollah is using private properties throughout southern Lebanon to build terror attack tunnels underneath the Blue Line into Israel, in clear violation of Israel’s sovereignty.
As UNIFIL and several member states have stated, these tunnels violate Security Council
Resolution 1701.
The Lebanese Army has taken no action in response, allowing Hezbollah to continue building these tunnels undisturbed.
I also revealed the existence of four terror attack tunnels, beginning in Lebanon and ending in Israel. I outlined Hezbollah’s grand plan to take over the Israeli Galilee.
Every year, Iran provides one billion dollars to its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah. The Iranian
regime invested millions of dollars into each Hezbollah terror attack tunnel.
This is the result of the Iranian money trail when the world is silent. This is what happens when the world relies on wishful thinking.
On December 20, Israel began a new phase of Operation Northern Shield.
Operation Northern Shield was a defensive measure on our side of the Blue Line to destroy the terror attack tunnels.
Israel neutralized one tunnel by sealing it off with cement. When the cement overflowed out the other side, the evidence was crystal clear. Hezbollah’s terror tunnel had begun inside a private property in Lebanon; stretched underneath the Blue Line; and infiltrated Israel’s sovereign territory.
And even then, even with striking evidence, UNIFIL is still not fulfilling its mandate.
On December 26, the IDF discovered a fifth terror tunnel, beginning in Kfar Ayta Ashab in
Lebanon, and ending in Shtula, Israel.
And just last week, on January 13, Israel discovered a sixth terror tunnel – the largest and most elaborate – spanning from Kfar Ramyeh, Lebanon into sovereign Israel.
Mr. President,
Operation Northern Shield has concluded. But Israel will continue to take any and all necessary defensive measures on our side of the border, including to neutralize all terror attack tunnels violating our sovereignty.
Israel will defend its people by any means – on the ground and underground. There is no price tag for the safety of our people.
Mr. President,
Follow the bloody trail of money – starting in Tehran – and you will arrive at the terror tunnels in Lebanon and Gaza and the weapons warehouses in Syria. It is now trying to infiltrate, also, Judea and Samaria.
The Iranian regime’s obsession with Israel is not just well-known. It is expensive. Seven billion dollars annually are directed toward the never-ending attempts to destroy Israel.
Seven billion dollars.
In Syria alone, it invests $4 billion every year to help the Assad regime. Iran gives $1 billion
annually in aid to its Shiite proxy. Iran also gives hundreds of millions of dollars to its proxies in Iraq, and tens of millions of dollars to rebels in Yemen.
On Israel’s border, Iran supports Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, with well over $100 million every year.
Mr. President,
The Palestinian representative has not mentioned anything about the connection between
Palestinian terrorist organizations and Iran.
So allow me to do so.
Iranian money has landed directly in the pockets of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria. Iran, in partnership with Hamas, and with the help of Hezbollah, is pushing to build a military front in Judea and Samaria from which to attack Israel.
The Iranian trail of terror unifies the efforts of Saleh Al-Arouri – Salah Al-Arouri is Hamas’
Deputy Political Chief, and he works very closely with and Saeed Izadi, the head of the
Palestinian branch of the Iranian Quds Force, on behalf of Quds Force commander, Qassem Souleimani.
The end goal of all these guys – this gang – is to establish terror networks throughout the Middle East.
With the help of Al-Arouri and Izadi, Iran is trying to turn Judea and Samaria into the fourth
military front against Israel.
With Iran’s blessing, Hamas is also growing closer to Hezbollah, and sharing its preferred terror tactics, including the tunnels, which we now see in southern Lebanon.
Hamas is also building a major military front in Lebanon, using it as another base from which to terrorize Israel.
Mr. President,
Iran, all of a sudden, is now speaking publicly about training Palestinian terrorists. High profile terrorists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are meeting with high ranking officials in Tehran.
On December 22, a few weeks ago, Hamas co-founder, Mahmoud al-Zahar, led a Hamas
delegation to Tehran. As Saleh Al-Arouri himself put it, and I quote, “The aid Iran provides to
the resistance is not merely symbolic…. Nobody but Iran gives us any military support.”
On December 31, Ayatollah Khamenei rang in the New Year by meeting with the head of
Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhale, in Tehran. For his New Year’s resolution, Khamenei promised
Nakhale that a Palestinian state will be established in Tel Aviv.
I have news for Mr. Khamenei. You will not meet your New Year’s resolution. Not this year.
Not ever.
In light of these meetings, it is odd that in that same week, the Iranian Foreign Minister,
Mohammed Javad Zarif, claimed with the utmost confidence, and I quote – that’s a quote from Zarif – “When did we say we want to annihilate Israel? Find one person that has said so. Nobody has said that.” That’s Zarif.
Actually, the entire Iranian regime has said that. For forty years. Since 1979.
For forty years, Iranian missiles bear the inscription, “Death to Israel.” And they write it in
Hebrew.
The so-called “moderate” Iranian president calls Israel, and I quote, “a cancerous tumor.”
The Iranian supreme leader threatens to “annihilate” Israel himself and place a Palestinian state in Tel Aviv.
Mr. President,
The Iranian machine of terror does not stop for even one moment. It is attempting to close in on us on four fronts.
But it stands no chance against Israel. We will never let Iran win. Not in Syria. Not in Lebanon.
Not in Judea and Samaria. Not in Gaza. Not anywhere.
But the world cannot keep living in a rose-colored reality. Iran is attacking Europe. It is
entrenched in states on the other side of the planet. I am sure the distinguished ambassadors of France, Belgium and Denmark know that when Iran strikes their countries once, as it did in recent years, it will strike again.
The EU has taken a crucial step forward by imposing new sanctions against Iran.
It is now the Council’s turn to take a leap.
Mr. President,
Israel means business.
We know what Iran seeks to accomplish, and we share it with our allies.
We know the international community can rise to the occasion and join us in the fight against Iranian terrorism.
We know that the world can answer the calls of the Iranian people, who deserve a brighter
future.
We are waiting for the Security Council to designate Hamas, to designate Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad as terrorist organizations.
Because weakening these terrorist organizations is the first step to dismantling the epicenter of terrorism that sits in Tehran.
We know the world is capable of responding.
But if we must, we will respond alone. We will defend our democracy; safeguard our
sovereignty; and protect our people.
As former Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, once warned, and I quote: “If an enemy of our people says he seeks to destroy us, believe him. Don’t doubt him for a moment. Don’t make light of it. Do all in your power to deny him the means of carrying out his satanic intent.”
If Israel must act, Israel will not hold back.
Thank you, Mr. President.