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Netanyahu needs to do some soul-searching

In his UN speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's diplomatic horizon consisted of Israel and the Arab world starting a normalization process before resolving the conflict with the Palestinians, a concept that no Arab leader would ever consider.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (front R) and Qatar's Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani arrive at a meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee in Doha April 8, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous (QATAR - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYDPI
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On Sept. 29, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did what he does every year. He stood at the podium of the UN General Assembly and told his audience about how Israel longs for peace. Much as in previous years, he spoke about radical Islam. Two years ago, on the same stage, Netanyahu warned the world of this danger, “from the rulers of Iran with their [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard [Corps] to al-Qaeda terrorists to the radical cells lurking in every part of the globe.”

This year, Netanyahu also chastised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for what he called a “provocative speech” that the Palestinian president had delivered before the same forum on Sept. 26, and warned him against making any unilateral diplomatic moves. But, of course, Netanyahu’s speech would be ignored if he had not introduced something new in it. Instead of first resolving the conflict with the Palestinians and obtaining reconciliation with the Arab states in exchange, Netanyahu introduced a new Middle East agenda. First, there would be reconciliation with the Arab states, and only then would there be peace with the Palestinians.

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