Netanyahu tells UN chief Iran building missile production sites in Syria and Lebanon

As António Guterres kicks off four-day tour of Israel with visit to Yad Vashem and meetings with Israeli leaders, PM Netanyahu warns the UN secretary-general of Tehran's military ambitions in Syria and Lebanon, which he says 'Israel cannot accept...the UN should not accept'; Guterres assures President Rivlin that he intends to be more even-handed with Israel, equates calls for its destruction with anti-Semitism.
Itamar Eichner|Last update: 28.08.17 , 13:58

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres Monday that Iran is building sites to produce precision-guided missiles in Syria and Lebanon, with the aim of using them against Israel.

At the start of a meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu accused Iran of turning Syria into a "base of military entrenchment as part of its declared goal to eradicate Israel."

"It is also building sites to produce precision-guided missiles towards that end, in both Syria and in Lebanon. This is something Israel cannot accept. This is something the UN should not accept," Netanyahu said as the two spoke during a joint press conference.


PM Netanyahu and UN Secretary-General António Guterres (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, has been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's staunchest backer and has provided militia fighters and terror groups such as Hezbollah to help him in Syria's civil war.

The prime minister lamented its "troubled relationship" with the UN, decrying what he described as an "absurd obsession with Israel," which uses "flagrantly discriminatory tactics. You don’t have to be the Israeli prime minister to understand that, and I think people of good faith and common sense understand that."

Netanyahu criticized the UN, saying that it fails to check Palestinian hate speech, "absurdly denies" Jewish connections to Jerusalem and has not stopped arms from reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon.

He was referring to a recent UN cultural agency resolution about Jerusalem that angered Israel after it failed to acknowledge Jewish ties with the city and recently denied Israeli sovereignty over the city.

Israel also criticized the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, for being too soft on Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces in the border area. The US recently backed Israel in its claims and suggested that more responsibilities be demanded of the group to curb Hezbollah's activities.

Credit to ynetnews.com

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5008671,00.html