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Netanyahu missteps on Hamas, Islamic State comparison

In his UN General Assembly speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Hamas to the Islamic State, ignoring Israel's ongoing negotiations with Hamas in Cairo.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks about a photograph as he addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 29, 2014.  REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton   (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR487W3

“We don’t believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu or anyone else from Israel is suggesting that the United States launch a military campaign against Hamas,” came the first response of State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comparison of the Islamic State (IS) and Hamas movement in his address to the UN General Assembly Sept. 29.

Most world leaders who addressed the UN General Assembly in the last few days have voiced outrage at the actions of IS and concern over the organization's takeover of territories in Syria and Iraq. Netanyahu, who arrived in New York about a month after the end of Operation Protective Edge, sought to include Hamas in the same package.

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