Australia PM slams UN resolution as he welcomes Netanyahu

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attacked the United Nations for “one-sided resolutions” against Israel’s push to build settlements on occupied land as he welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday on his first official visit to the country, reports AFP.
Ahead of the four-day visit, Turnbull wrote a newspaper editorial slamming the United Nations Security Council for a resolution adopted in December that called for an end to Israeli settlement building on occupied Palestinian territory.
“My government will not support one-sided resolutions criticizing Israel of the kind recently adopted by the UN Security Council and we deplore the boycott campaigns designed to delegitimise the Jewish state,” Turnbull wrote in The Australian newspaper. Netanyahu welcomed the strong show of support, telling reporters he “was delighted” by the article.
“Australia has been courageously willing to puncture U.N. hypocrisy more than once,” Netanyahu said at a joint-press conference with Turnbull.
“The UN is capable of many absurdities and I think it’s important that you have straightforward and clear-eyed countries like Australia that often bring it back to earth,” he said.
Turnbull said he supported direct negotiations towards a two-state solution, but warned that Israel’s security needs would have to be met for any peace agreement to take hold.
“You cannot expect any Israeli government to put itself in a position where security is at risk, where its citizens are not safe. The first duty of every government is the safety of the people,” he said.

Australia PM slams UN resolution as he welcomes Netanyahu

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attacked the United Nations for one-sided resolutions against Israels push to build settlements on occupied land as he welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday on his first official visit to the country, reports AFP. Ahead of the four-day visit, Turnbull wrote a newspaper editorial slamming the United Nations Security Council for a resolution adopted in December that called for an end to Israeli settlement building on occupied Palestinian territory. My government will not support one-sided resolutions criticizing Israel of the kind recently adopted by the UN Security Council and we deplore the boycott campaigns designed to delegitimise the Jewish state, Turnbull wrote in The Australian newspaper. Netanyahu welcomed the strong show of support, telling reporters he was delighted by the article. Australia has been courageously willing to puncture U.N. hypocrisy more than once, Netanyahu said at a joint-press conference with Turnbull. The UN is capable of many absurdities and I think its important that you have straightforward and clear-eyed countries like Australia that often bring it back to earth, he said. Turnbull said he supported direct negotiations towards a two-state solution, but warned that Israels security needs would have to be met for any peace agreement to take hold. You cannot expect any Israeli government to put itself in a position where security is at risk, where its citizens are not safe. The first duty of every government is the safety of the people, he said.