Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the annual U.N. General Assembly today that the world must stand up against Iran.
“There is no greater challenge to our values than that posed by the leaders of Iran,” Livni said. “They deny and mock the Holocaust. They speak proudly and openly of their desire to wipe Israel off the map. And now, by their actions, they pursue the weapons to achieve this objective, to imperil the region and to threaten the world.”
She went on to speak about Israel’s desire to work towards resolving conflict with palestine stating:
“We have no illusions about the difficulties before us _ we must face them and not ignore them,” she said.
Livni said being moderate in the Middle East is often perceived as being weak, and “our challenge is to empower the peacemakers and dis-empower their opponents.”
Livni said to do this the world must show “determination, not half-measures and vague formulations.” If the world hesitates, she said, “the extremists sense opportunity. And if it appeases, they sense victory.”
While she spoke only one Iranian remained in the chambers, on the back row. When she finished speaking, he moved back to the front row.
Her straight-forward but reasoned words spoken to the U.N. assembly were in sharp contrast to the maniacal rantings of Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad.
The question that keeps going through my mind is what more needs to happen for us to take this threat seriously. While on American soil, they declare war on America. They have stated repeatedly that they consider America and Israel their enemies. They have declared they will wipe us off the face of the earth.
And still, they come here, protected by our laws and our respect for human rights and life, and basically spit in our faces.
What will it take?
