Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Israel's new prime minister appealed to the international community Monday to stand together against Iran, accusing Tehran of marching toward the development of a nuclear weapon and threatening to act alone if the world does not take action.
In his maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Naftali Bennett made no mention of Israel's decadeslong conflict with the Palestinians and instead sought to portray Iran as a menace to global security.
"Iran's nuclear program has hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance," he said. "Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning."
After four inconclusive elections in two years, Bennett succeeded the longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June by forming a diverse coalition of small and midsize parties spanning the Israeli political spectrum.
Where Netanyahu was famous for his showmanship, combativeness and use of visual props in his addresses to the U.N., Bennett -- a former high-tech executive -- took a more traditional approach. His voice was measured as he sought to portray his country as a "lighthouse in a stormy sea" of the volatile Mideast.
But the content of his message was largely similar to that of Netanyahu as he focused heavily on archenemy Iran.
"Iran's great goal is crystal clear to anybody who cares to open their eyes: Iran seeks to dominate the region -- and seeks to do so under a nuclear umbrella," Bennett said.
He called Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi, the "butcher of Tehran" for his past role in suppressing political dissent and accused Iran of arming, funding and training Israel's enemies across the region. He said Iranian meddling had brought disaster to countries like Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
"Every place Iran touches fails," he said, claiming that Iranian activities threatened the entire world. He pointed to Iran's development of attack drones, which have been blamed for a string of attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Israel believes that Iran aims to develop nuclear weapons -- a charge Iran denies -- and says the international nuclear accord reached with Iran in 2015 did not include enough safeguards to keep Iran from reaching a weapons capability.
Israel welcomed then-President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord in 2018 and has made clear that it opposes the Biden administration's willingness to return to the agreement. Israel says the agreement needs major modifications before it can be reinstated.
Bennett said that some in the international community have concluded that a nuclear-capable Iran is an "inevitable reality."
"Israel doesn't have that privilege," he said, signaling that Israel is ready to act alone if necessary. "We will not tire. We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon."
The United Nations has made the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a high priority over the decades, drawing accusations from Israel that the world body is unfairly biased.
Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is frequently criticized in U.N. bodies, including the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. In 2012, over Israeli objections, the Palestinians were granted nonmember observer status at the U.N., allowing them to join a number of international bodies. These include the International Criminal Court, which is now investigating possible Israeli war crimes.
In an unusually harsh speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday gave Israel one year to end its occupation of territories the Palestinians want for a future state. He threatened to withdraw recognition of Israel -- a cornerstone of three decades of failed peace efforts -- if it failed to do so.
Bennett, a religious hard-liner who opposes Palestinian statehood, stopped short of criticizing the United Nations and did not mention Abbas or the Palestinians even once in his 25-minute address. As prime minister, he has rejected calls for peace talks with the Palestinians, though he hopes to promote better economic relations to reduce friction.
In a subtle message to his detractors, he said Israel was prepared to work with the international community and share its technological expertise to address other issues, including the coronavirus pandemic.
"For way too long, Israel was defined by wars with our neighbors," he said. "But this is not what Israel is about. This is not what the people of Israel are about."
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.