UN CANNOT FORCE ISRAEL TO JEOPARDIZE ITS SECURITY

The prime minister has reacted to Mahmoud Abbas' atrocious bid for palestinian statehood at a political farce of an operation that's almost completely guaranteed to back him:

With Israel facing a stinging diplomatic defeat Thursday at the UN, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that regardless of how many vote against Israel, "no force in the world will get me to compromise on Israel's security."

He also said no force in the world can sever the thousands-year-old tie between the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

Relating to the expected overwhelming support of the world to upgrade the Palestinian status at the UN to that of a non-member state, Netanyahu said that the decision will "Not change anything on the ground. It will not further the establishment of a Palestinian state, but will make it more distant."

Netanyahu's comments came while touring an exhibit of recently declassified documents marking the upcoming 35th anniversary of Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.

"Israel's hand is always extended in peace, but a Palestinian state will not be established without recognition of the state of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, without an end-of-conflict declaration, and without true security arrangements that will protect Israel and its citizens."

Netanyahu, who said that none of the conditions he reiterated are even mentioned in the Palestinian's UN resolution, said that peace is only achieved through negotiations, and not by unilateral declarations "which do not take into consideration Israel security needs."

Netanyahu recommended not being impressed by the applause that will likely be heard later at the UN.

"I remember the international community's applause that the government of Israel received when it decided to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza," he said. "We got applause and then rocket fire. We left Gaza, and Iran entered, exactly like what happened in Lebanon."

Netanyahu said he would not enable another Iranian base to be established, this time in Judea and Samaria, a kilometer away from Jerusalem.

"It does not matter how many will vote against us, there is no force in the world that will cause me to compromise on Israeli security and there is no force in the world able to sever the thousands year connection between the people of Israel and the Land of Israel," he said.

Well, he'd better start getting really, REALLY serious about this if he wants to convince them he won't stand for it. It makes little difference even if Ehud Barak was more responsible for stopping the raid on Gaza before it even began, he too has some responsibility to bear, and the question now is if he's got the courage to stand by his convictions.