Today, the leadership of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America issued the following statement commending Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for his address to the United Nations General Assembly:

“Yesterday, before the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an eloquent and forceful message about the urgent threat of militant Islam. The Prime Minister rightfully singled out the Iranian nuclear weapons program as the gravest threat to world peace and security.

The Orthodox Union agrees with the Prime Minister that we cannot accept Iran as a nuclear-threshold state with its program’s infrastructure largely intact; this would leave Iran only a small step away from nuclear weapons capability. The United States must insist that any final nuclear agreement with Iran includes the dismantling of its program so that Tehran is left without a uranium or plutonium path to a nuclear weapon.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also issued an important and effective response to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ slanderous speech to the U.N. General Assembly. President Abbas’ divisive language of incitement and hatred was offensive to all those who seek reconciliation in the region. It begs the question whether he is indeed “a partner for peace” as he is often touted.

We commend Prime Minister Netanyahu for calling for “a broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world” which “may help facilitate an Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

Click here to view Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech or to read the transcript.