(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the start of his meeting in Jerusalem this afternoon (Monday, 13 October 2014) with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:
"The root cause of the violence that burst from Gaza is not Israel’s occupation in Gaza, for a simple reason: Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza.
Israel left Gaza to the very last centimeter, to the very last inch. We uprooted all the settlements and vacated all the settlers.
So there is no Israeli occupation of Gaza.
The root cause of this summer's outburst of violence was Hamas' rocketing of Israeli cities, and these rocket attacks often exploited UN neutrality, using UN facilities and UN schools as part of the Hamas machine of terror.
And when rockets were discovered inside UN schools, some UN officials handed them back to Hamas – that very same Hamas that was rocketing Israeli cities and Israeli civilians.
The root cause of Hamas’ rocket fire on Israel is Hamas’ opposition to Israel’s very existence.
Hamas doesn't give a hoot for the 1967 lines. For them, Israel has no right to live, in any borders. Hamas rejects our very existence. They’re committed to killing every Israeli and every Jew. You just have to read their charter – they say that very plainly.
So Hamas is the enemy of all of us who seek peace. And a real peace can only be achieved through bilateral negotiations with those who believe in peace.
I believe that unilateral steps by the Palestinians at the United Nations will not advance peace. I think they’ll do the very opposite. They’ll bring about a further deterioration in the situation – something none of us want."
Prime Minister Netanyahu added regarding the violence on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem:
"I’m committed, and Israel is committed, to maintaining the status quo exactly as it’s been for many decades.
What we’re seeing are Palestinian extremists who are instigating violence through incitement. The incitement is spread by false and baseless rumors that we are threatening the Muslim holy places.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Israel scrupulously maintains the protection of the holy sites, the right of all religions to worship in their holy places, and will continue to do so, maintaining order, maintaining freedom of worship."