Sound The Trumpet : Netanyahu Hits Back At U.S. Criticism in Foreign Press

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“Netanyahu Hits Back At U.S. Criticism in Foreign Press”
by Arutz Sheva
October 2nd, 2014

PM says criticism of Jewish home buying would 'cause uproar' if not in Jerusalem to world press - hasn't spoken in Israeli media for years.

Binyamin Netanyahu on foreign press

Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been on a whirlwind American tour, speaking before the UN General Assembly, meeting US President Barack Obama, and starting Wednesday night speaking to several international media networks. That point has raised eyebrows given the fact he hasn't given Israeli media an interview for many long years.

Two issues have caused ire in the White House since Netanyahu's arrival, namely Israel's announced construction plan for 2,610 homes in Jerusalem on Wednesday which the US harshly condemned, and dozens of Jewish families moving into eleven apartments in the Shiloach neighborhood (known as Silwan by local Arabs) in Jerusalem.

Speaking to Univision, Netanyahu explained the latter case saying "if you said to me that in some city in the United States or in Mexico, or anywhere else, Jews cannot buy apartments, there would be an uproar."

"You know, there's not only the freedom of property, but the right of every individual to live where they want, as long as they purchase the apartment legally and don't expropriate, don't take over, which isn't the case here," added Netanyahu. "So I just want to understand this policy. It flies in the face of American values, and it flies in the face of common sense."

Speaking to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday night, Netanyahu added that the criticism on the construction plans was particularly off the mark given that a "substantial part were for Arabs." He also termed the criticism of the Shiloah purchase "baffling."

The defense of Jewish residency in Jerusalem and construction projects may seem ironic to some, given that Netanyahu has been revealed to be imposing a "covert" construction freeze on Jewish building in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem - despite the housing crisis gripping Israel.

On another issue, while Netanyahu reserved Israel's right to defend itself from a "bad" nuclear deal with Iran that would leave the Islamic regime with breakout capacity to build a nuclear bomb, he refused to elaborate his plans, saying "I'm the only Israeli who doesn't talk about military operations."

Before the UN Netanyahu pressed his comparison of the Islamist terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic State (ISIS) - a comparison Obama's administration saw fit to criticize.

Elaborating on his comments, Netanyahu told Univision "I didn't say that Hamas and ISIS are twins. I said that they're brothers. They're branches, as I said in the UN, of the same poisonous tree of militant Islam. They both share fanatic ideology of first getting these enclaves of militant Islam and then expanding them through terror ultimately to in their view, to dominate the world. Now, they also share the same fanatic methods."

Aside from discussing politics, Netanyahu has come in for criticism during his trip to the US after it was revealed he has been eating in several non-kosher restaurants during important meetings in his capacity as the leader of the Jewish state of Israel.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13