Netanyahu Speech at UN General Assembly: Full Transcript and Video

This is the transcript from Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly from 2012. For this year's, click here.

On Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly, one day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the international body. Though it was anticipated that Ahmadinejad would use his time to rail against Israel, as he had done in the past, his speech was relatively tame. The bulk of his address focused on restructuring the UN, which he says is skewed toward powerful states, which dominate the world order. On Monday, Ahmadinejad delivered some opening remarks at the UN, which prompted the Israel's delegation to walk out. Netanyahu is expected to address the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, due in large part to the latter's nuclear program. 


Ladies and Gentlemen,






We will never be uprooted again.



But at the end of Yom Kippur, we celebrate.



In Israel, the past and the future find common ground.













President Abbas just spoke here.

I say to him and I say to you:










We’ve seen that happen before.




We’ve seen that happen before too.


My friends, we cannot let that happen again.












That’s a very dangerous assumption.









Not irrational…


Yeah, right…


Ladies and Gentlemen,





That hasn’t worked.






Red lines don’t lead to war; red lines prevent war.






Clear red lines have also worked with Iran.















This is a bomb; this is a fuse.

















But they are not foolproof.



Ladies and Gentlemen,









Ladies and Gentlemen,








Thank you.


2:12pm: Speech over. Transcript forthcoming.  

2:11pm: Lauds the Obama administration. 

2:10pm: "I believe that faced with a clear red line, Iran will back down." 

2:07pm: Netanyahu literally draws a red line on his diagram to show where he thinks Iran's nuclear program would be beyond the point of no return. 

2:06pm: Netanyahu breaks out a diagram:

Nice visuals!

2:03pm: Netanyahu says that red lines could have prevented wars in the past including WWII and the Persian Gulf War. 

2:00pm: Bibi thanks the representatives who have imposed sanctions in Iran, but he says the sanctions haven't stopped the nuclear program. Calls for the placing of "a clear red line on Iran's nuclear weapons program." Says, "Red lines don't lead to war," but prevent them. Cites NATO's red line in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. 

1:59pm: On Iran's nuclear program: "The hour is getting late, very late." Very cryptic.

1:55pm: Netanyahu is railing against Iranian "aggression." He's painting a worst-case scenario situation. "Who'd be safe in the Middle East? Who's be safe in Europe? Who'd be safe in America? Who'd be safe anywhere?" Says that a nuclear could not be contained a la the Soviet Union, because the Soviets always chose survival over ideology.

1:53pm: Bibi says a nuclear armed Iran would be like having a nuclear-armed Iran. Says both have "a lust for violence." 

1:51pm: Bibi has avoided real specifics so far. Instead, he is slamming radical Islam in the abstract. 

1:49pm: Bibi calls Abbas' speech "libelous." Ouch. Says a unilateral declaration of statehood is not the answer. Fact check: the Palestinians plan to seek statehood through the UN, which is a multilateral approach. The U.S. and Israel oppose this approach. 

1:46pm: "Israel is making the world a better place." 

1:45pm: "The forces of modernity seek a bright future in which the rights of all are protected." 

1:43pm: "The Jewish people have come home. We will never be uprooted again." 

1:41pm: Netanyahu is addressing the claim that Israel has no historial roots in the region. Says, "The Jewish state will live forever." 

1:40pm: Slovenian president has concluded. Netanyahu speaking now. 

1:36pm: Netanyahu on the plane earlier today preparing for his address:

1:30pm: Apparently, the Prime Minister of Slovenia is next, not Netanyahu. 

1:23pm: Abbas: We are not trying to de-legitimize Israel. Israel is trying to de-legitimize us. 

1:19pm: Last October, UNESCO voted to admit Palestine as a member, prompting the U.S. to throw a tantrum and pull funding from the organization.

1:14pm: In his Wednesday speech to the General Assembly, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi urged the recognition of Palestinian statehood. The Palestinians have opted not to pursue the issue at this round of meetings, but have indicated they will do so after the U.S. presidential election. The U.S. and Israel oppose the efforts of the Palestinians to get recognition through the UN, putting them in a small minority among UN members. 

1:10pm: Abbas says rewards continue to be "illogically" bestowed upon Israel.

1:09pm: Abbas is remarking on Israel's control of vital water resources in the Occupied Territories, as well as the establishment of walls, blocks, and checkpoints around Palestinian enclaves. Abbas says, "I speak on behalf of an angry people." 

1:07pm: Map of territories occupied by Israel:

1:01pm: Abbas is decrying the Israeli occupation, as expected. Calls Israel's actions "extremist." If Bill Clinton is right, as long as Netanyahu remains in power, there will likely be no resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

12:54pm: Mahmoud Abbas is now speaking. Netanyahu's time will be pushed back to around 1:30pm.

12:53pm: I feel as if the Cape Verdian president's speech has been going on since I was in the second grade. 

12:46pm: The claim that Ahmadinejad once said Iran wants to "wipe Israel off the map" is false, as there exists no such idiom in Farsi. He was actually referring to remarks made by the late Ayatollah Khomeini that Israel would vanish from the pages of time. He did not say that Iran would be the one to see to it. This mistranslated remark is often cited as a big reason why Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. 

12:45pm: Things are again running a little late. 

12:29pm: Despite expectations to the contrary, Ahmadinejad's speech on Wednesday was relatively tame. Iran's president chose to use his time to rail against the structure of the UN, which he said is skewed toward the more powerful states in the international area — a claim that's not unreasonable. He also said that capitalism has failed and cannot solve the world's current problems. 

12:15pm: Netanyahu is scheduled to speak to General Assembly in thirty minutes. According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu will reiterate his call for the establishment of "red lines" on the Iranian nuclear program. Such a plan would stake out the point at which Israel its U.S. ally would consider Iranian nuclear develop unacceptable, and prompt possible military action against the Islamic republic. 


Netanyahu has called for the United States to establish "red lines" for Iran's nuclear program, which the Islamic state says is for civilian purposes, but Israel and the U.S. — nuclear powers themselves — are skeptical. In his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Barack Obama remarked on the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran.


Netanyahu's address will come immediately after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks to the General Assembly beginning at 12pm.