JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will call for an end to incitement on the Temple Mount and discuss “Israel’s desire for peace with the Palestinians” during a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry.
In a statement as he boarded a plane Tuesday morning for U.N headquarters in New York, Netanyahu also said that during his address this week to the United Nations General Assembly that he would speak about the Iran nuclear deal and the threat to Israel from Syria.
“Each time that I address the United Nations I feel the privilege and great honor of telling the truth before the world on behalf of the citizens of Israel, on behalf of our country,” he said. “The world needs to know what the citizens of Israel feel about the nuclear agreement with Iran and what we expect from the international community in the wake of this agreement.”
Netanyahu is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Thursday. The next day he is scheduled to meet with Kerry, and said he will discuss the strengthening of Israel’s security.
The prime minister addressed the Palestinian incitement on the Temple Mount, which he said he will raise with Kerry and the United Nations.
“Israel desires peace with the Palestinians who, to my regret, are continuing to spread gross lies about our policy on the Temple Mount,” Netanyahu said. “I will demand a halt to this wild incitement. Israel is committed to the status quo; Israel is maintaining the status quo. It is the Palestinian rioters who are bringing war materiel, pipe bombs and fireworks onto the Temple Mount, who are harming the sanctity of the place and it is they who are violating the status quo.”
