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.

Netanyahu said the struggle against common threats such as Hamas, the Islamic State (IS) and their ilk presented a common challenge to Israel and states like Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia. According to him, this common interest they share affords an opportunity "to create a productive partnership, one that would build a more secure, peaceful and prosperous Middle East.”

On the other hand, in a holiday interview on Sept. 24 with Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu said that for the very same reason — the threats posed by Hamas, IS and their ilk — the time is not right for the Saudi Peace Initiative, which was upgraded in 2002 to the Arab League’s Regional Peace Initiative. Yet, it seems as if that initiative was of no interest to him even before radical Islam spread throughout the region, and even before the events of the Arab Spring.